The Coven
by Celtic Mysteria
Summary: Six years after the defeat of Mehrunes Dagon, a Dunmer is thrown into prison for murder. Years later she escapes, only to find herself the enemy of a very powerful group of vampires...
1. Break Out

With a snarl, the Dunmer threw herself against the bars. Her long, skeletal arms reached through to claw at the guard and her lips curled back to reveal sharp teeth. In alarm, the guard staggered back several paces, only to be seized from behind.

"Newbie." drawled the man in the opposite cell, lazily drumming his fingers against the guard's throat as his other hand reached for something at his side. "This could be our lucky day, Oreyn."

The guard choked against the arm that trapped his throat, struggling desperately for a moment, until he felt the sharp tip of a knife pressing against his stomach and fell still in fear.

"Give him to me, Bellamont!" whispered the Dunmer hoarsely, "It has been so long since I last fed!" She stretched her arms further, her fingertips less than a foot from the guard's chest.

"In a moment." Bellamont turned his attention back to the guard, whose wide eyes stared at him in fear.

"Captain…Marus…will come…looking for me." he gasped through his restricted windpipe. "He will…kill…you…for this!"

"Hear that Oreyn? Marus is going to kill us." Eyes glittering maliciously, Bellamont lowered his head to whisper in the guard's ear. "When Marus comes down, he's in for a shock. I don't suppose he's ever been confronted by a starving vampire before, has he?" Noting the guard stiffen, he smiled. "Oh yes, she's a vampire alright. Didn't anyone tell you?"

He was about to continue, but Oreyn interrupted him in anger.

"What do you mean, _starving_ vampire?" she hissed, pressing her face through the bars. "You promised me this one!" She snapped her fangs at him in irritation, once more attempting to grasp the guard in her claws, but her nails missed him by several inches.

"Please!" choked the desperate guard, "Don't…give me to…her!"

"We'll see. But first…" he ran his free hand over the guard's belt, smiling triumphantly as his hands closed over cold metal.

A hiss of glee escaped Oreyn's lips at the sight of the heavy iron keys.

"Give me them!" she commanded. "Immediately! And then _him_."

Bellamont hushed her angrily, casting a furtive glance towards the stairs. Oreyn pursed her lips in agitation, but remained silent.

The guard looked horrified as Bellamont one-handedly unlocked his cell door. In a sudden blur of motion, he was released and thrown against the bars opposite, whereupon the vampire immediately sank her fangs deep into his throat. She sucked greedily until his body slumped, completely drained of blood.

In the meantime, Bellamont had freed himself and was moving over to unlock her door too. Her eyes, a violent shade of red, were shining in anticipation.

"Years!" she whispered. "Endless years of imprisonment!"

Soon she too was standing in the corridor outside the cells, almost shaking in her excitement.

"Quickly. You wasted too much time taunting him."

They crept towards the window at the far end of the corridor, Oreyn gesturing for him to give her a leg-up. He knelt obligingly, but murmured a warning under his breath.

"Remember, vampire, you need me to escape this city without being caught."

She snorted, tossing back her long dark hair over her shoulder.

"You think I need a sniveling Breton to escape?"

"A sniveling Breton who helped supply you with fresh blood? How would you have killed that guard without me? I would still be free without you, elf, but you would still be in that cage if not for me!"

Once more, Oreyn snorted, but said nothing, instead focusing her attention on the bars of the window. With a twitch of her fingers, a flash of fire illuminated the bars and warmed them until eventually they had been softened enough to be pulled from the stone.

Ignoring the pain of the blisters covering her fingers, Oreyn pressed her face against the opening and glanced around before dragging herself through the window. Everything outside was clear and she knelt to help Bellamont up.

"Wait! Wait for me!"

They both turned at the sound of the only other prisoner currently kept prisoner in the Bastion.

"You can't leave me here to rot! I've done nothing wrong!" hissed the voice. "I'll…I'll call the guards! I will!"

"You will remain silent, Arcadia, or I will suck every last drop of blood from your body!" snarled Oreyn through the window.

"You don't scare me Oreyn! Now I swear, open this door!"

Bellamont and Oreyn exchanged glances.

"Fine then!" spat Oreyn, turning her back angrily on Bellamont who shrugged and swung himself back down into the prison. About a minute passed before Oreyn heard their stealthy footsteps on the stone behind her. She glared at the Imperial who steadfastly ignored her, though she noted that he twitched nervously with every movement she made.

"I swear, if you get us caught…" she hissed threateningly, poking a long-nailed finger into his throat. She left the sentence unfinished - it was perfectly clear what she would do to him without the need for words. "We'll regret this, Bellamont."

Bellamont did not answer. He gave her a small, irritating smile instead, and as Arcadia drank in the fresh air, Bellamont leaned in close to whisper to Oreyn.

"I remember once you told me that you were born under The Shadow."

"This is no time for small talk!"

"No, no, I assure you this is nothing like small talk. More, a way of evading the guards - and Arcadia."

Oreyn raised an eyebrow, and waved a hand for him to get to the point.

"I presume that means you have the Moonshadow power. And I," here he paused and drew a bottle from the sack he had taken from his cell, "have this."

The Dunmer's eyebrows rose even further into her hair.

"And that is…?"

"An invisibility potion."

For a moment, she gaped at him, the question clearly written on her features.

"You will recall that Nord in the cell beside me? Afjod the Sour? Let's just say he was rather adept at hiding things from the guards. Not so good at escaping." He grinned wickedly. "Anyway, what say you we give Arcadia the slip just before we get in sight of the guards?"

Oreyn's eyes lit up and a cold smile spread across her face. She nodded her approval, and in silence, they returned to Arcadia, who had been staring at the stars with a dazed expression.

"We are leaving?" he asked, face still dreamy and eyes continuing to gaze upwards.

"We are."

"Good."


	2. Escape

It took almost no time at all before they had paced far enough around the prison to reach the gate. Bellamont removed the keys from his belt, careful to keep them from jangling. After briefly searching through them, he succeeded in finding the one to open the gate. It was only as the key was turning that they heard the voices.

"If you see him, tell the new boy to hurry up. The captain said to show him around on his first day."

"He should've just finished feeding the inmates, if they haven't got the keys off him."

The speaker laughed, but when his companion spoke it sounded worried.

"You don't think…the vampire perhaps…?"

"Trust me: it's impossible for them to escape. There are legion members at every gate in the city - there is no chance for them to get out unseen. You remember that Nord tried to escape a couple o' years back? Ended up with an arrow in his neck before he'd made it ten paces." The guard chuckled.

Oreyn and Bellamont froze. To be imprisoned again after this delicious taste of freedom would be the cruelest torture imaginable.

"We should've caused a diversion…" muttered Oreyn, eyes already showing that all the wild ecstasy of the past few minutes was beginning to leave her. Bellamont just gave her another of his irritating smiles.

"I think we already have one." he gestured at Arcadia, who looked terrified at being confronted with guards. He stared around for a moment desperate to find a hiding place, before panicking and running straight into another guard's view in his haste to hide.

"Escaped prisoner!" bellowed the guard nearest to them, running around the side of the building. Oreyn grabbed Bellamont roughly by the back of his tattered shirt and pulled him deeper into the shadows. A stream of guards ran straight past them, weapons raised, and with a scream of fear and pain they saw Arcadia plunge to the ground, clutching his side.

"Now!" whispered Oreyn, raising her hand to cast her spell. Bellamont gulped down his potion and the two fled, near-flying down the steps and through the gate.

The guards on the other side were startled as the gates flew open, but couldn't see the prisoners as they ran in front of them. Their bewildered faces elicited a harsh bark of laughter from Bellamont and they gasped, backing into the wall behind.

Barely containing her own cackle of triumph, Oreyn scrambled down the slope, rolling down the last few metres. She was closely followed by Bellamont, who skidded and slipped his way down. They did not stop at the bottom, sprinting at full speed away from the Bastion.

"Spell…worn off!" gasped Bellamont as they ran and his companion cast a quick glance at her now visible body. Years of darkness had left her skin alarmingly pale and a lack of nourishment meant her body was skeletal beneath the rough cloth of her shirt. However, she could feel the young blood of the guard coursing its way through her body, giving her more energy than most well-rested mortal men.

Bellamont, on the other hand, had only the energy left from his paltry breakfast of stale bread and ale. His breath came in wheezing, heaving gasps and his legs already felt leaden. His muscles, soft from lack of use, burned with the exertion - already he was desperate for a rest.

As Bellamont began to fall behind, Oreyn began to glance around for a hiding place.

"Here!" she hissed, dragging him into a clump of bushes that surrounded a large rock. They crouched low and crawled through until they were completely concealed by the leafy shrubs.

"We shouldn't rest for long. It will be easier to escape if they don't know we've gone. The sentries by the gate will see nothing - they only see that which they expect to."

"You sure?" wheezed the Breton, leaning back against the stone. "I…I laughed as we passed them."

"I heard." she said disapprovingly. "And a damn fool thing to do it was too. But they'll put it down to the wind, or their imagination."

"It seems unlikely…" Bellamont bit his lip.

"The Legion thinks itself invincible. They'll be too busy crowing over catching Arcadia to even notice we're gone for a day or two. Trust me. How do you think I managed to survive all these years?"

"You got kept nice and safe in jail."

"You think that was my first crime? Pfft, I've been evading guards since I was seven years old." She bragged. "Just on a small scale theft at first, I'll admit - a couple of shirts, food, maybe the odd vase from a rich friend's house."

"You had friends?" snorted Bellamont, his voice stronger as he regained his breath. "I find that hard to believe!"

She slapped his arm good naturedly, made far more amiable by the joy of their escape.

"No really, how did you get rich friends? Surely they'd want nothing to do with a _vampire._"

"I wasn't born like this, you know." replied Elrena as if it were obvious. "When my mother was called out on midwife duty I'd go along to help, and sometimes the broodmare's brats would decide they wanted to befriend the oddity. Sometimes they were so rich that their possessions could move by themselves."

"Into your pocket, presumably?"

"Naturally." replied Oreyn, grinning wickedly. She glanced distractedly up at the sky. "Looks like rain. Perfect - that'll help conceal us. Shall we go?"

He nodded and they emerged from the bushes and began to run again. By the time they had reached the lakes that surrounded the city the rain was falling thick and fast on their heads, washing the grime that accumulated over the years from their hair.

Pausing to take a deep breath, Oreyn plunged into the murky water. A soft splash several seconds later told her that Bellamont had followed.

She barely felt the cold - despite the warmth of flesh that human blood gave her, her insides were already like ice - but she could sense Bellamont cringe as it hit him. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him surface for air, gasping at the night sky, then dive back under.

She had to hand it to him, he was a good swimmer. His arms sliced through the water easily, pulling him through the water with barely a splash and he rarely surfaced for air. It took only a few minutes for them both to have reached water shallow enough for them to walk through.

Bellamont paused when the water was knee deep on him and it was only then that his exhaustion began to show again. Several seconds later, Oreyn had joined him.

"You move much better in water. Less like a broken puppet." she observed. "Still, maybe once you've had some food you won't be so jerky."

"Freedom doesn't suit you Oreyn. I swear you've been almost pleasant to me since we escaped. It's not natural." He replied, then bent to scoop some water into his hands. He splashed it over his face, but even the shock of the cold couldn't stop the enormous yawn that followed.

Choosing to ignore his last comment, or perhaps taking pride in it, Oreyn instead focused on his yawn.

"We will camp soon. I know of a fort near here where we will not be found."

"A fort? There will probably be bandits there. I don't know if I am up to a fight at the moment."

Looking at him, Oreyn had to agree. He had begun to wheeze again and the cold of the water had turned his skin almost as blue as hers.

"You stay here, dry yourself, get warmer. I will deal with the bandits."

"There is rarely less than three in a group. Think you can handle it?" he said, beginning to shiver.

"I am more than capable. You forget that each one's blood will invigorate me more than any food we could find. Besides, if you don't warm yourself soon you are going to die of cold."

"Can't deny that." replied Bellamont, forcing his feet to move through the water and onto the beach. There were several rocks scattering the beach, and he settled himself behind the largest of these, rubbing at his arms and attempting to stop himself from trembling.

"Keep out of sight, keep warm, try not to get yourself killed." Oreyn told him and after a momentary pause to check her bearings, she started walking west.


	3. Fort Caractacus

Oreyn approached the fort cautiously, ready to cast a fireball at any moment. The spells that had been placed upon her to keep her docile whilst captive had been lifted the second she had exited her cell and she could feel the familiar warmth of magicka welling up between her palms.

It seemed to have taken no time at all to reach the fort. Its towering walls dominated the landscape around it, and the remnants of another tower that had once been part of it lay a little way to the west. Oreyn knew the region well, having used the fort to hide from guards with great success in the past. She could hardly believe it had been fifteen years since she had last sheltered within, except that the walls were ever more weathered and the tree that had once stood beside its entrance had gone.

The ruin appeared deserted, and as she struggled up the slope towards it she relaxed her hands, allowing her magicka to return to the rest of her body. In an odd way, she found a trace of home in the structure's battered stones. There was a feeling of safety, of being hidden from the rest of the world while she was there. _I wonder if anyone knows this place exists… _she wondered, before reminding herself that people were generally more interested in the reputed ghost town to the north. It was just a story bandits used to keep people away, she had always thought, although she had never seen bandits here before and doubted they would be there now. No, there was little chance of attack whilst in this place that had kept her safe so many times before. It was then that she relaxed – her first mistake.

All of a sudden the grass in front of her parted, as if blown by a wind, but there was no breeze. Seconds later she felt something heavy lurch against her chest, accompanied by the sound of snapping jaws.

Perhaps unusually, prison had not dulled her reflexes and she lashed out almost immediately, though she was not quite fast enough to prevent something slicing vertically across her cheekbone and towards her jaw.

The attack knocked her off balance, and she staggered, only to be hit again, this time feeling something clamp its jaws around her arm.

Instinctively, a fireball burst from her hand and seemed to hit whatever it was that had bitten her, because she felt the teeth retract from her arm. Oreyn looked around wildly, fearing another attack, until she noticed the body of a wolf tumbling down the hill.

Oreyn felt a stab of panic - how had she not seen the creature? Had the time she spent in prison dulled her senses so dramatically?

With a rising sense of dread, she climbed the last few metres of hill up to the fort. She reached it without any resistance, although her arm felt as though it had been ripped apart.

After her experience with the wolf, it was little comfort to see that the fort was empty. She wondered how many more creatures there were that she wouldn't see until it was too late. She scanned the ruins carefully, holding her flaming hands before her, then began to walk around the edge, seeing no one.

By the time she had completed a full circuit, she was satisfied that there was nothing else to attack her, and headed up the stairs to the south of the fort.

There were two rooms on the second level, and it was in the furthest of these she made her discovery.

Lying in the archway leading to the second room was a skeleton. Its mouth was stretched open in what looked like a scream of pain, but could just as easily be a shout of triumph. It wore the robes and hood of a mage, though they were tattered and bones were clearly visible through the holes in them. Some sort of staff lay inches from the remains of a hand, and Oreyn was careful not to touch it as she examined the skeleton.

Through the holes in his clothes (for it certainly seemed to be male) she could see that there were numerous bite marks one each of the bones and a rib with obvious signs of gnawing was only a few feet away.

Further inside the room, the remains of what looked like an alembic lay smashed beneath a table, and the western wall was covered in scorch marks. Beneath the blackened bricks, there were two sacks, but whatever had been inside was long gone.

On a second table, to the right of the door, there were two books, a quill and an inkwell. Beneath, another two books were lying on the floor, stacked neatly.

After another scan for danger, Oreyn sat on the stool beside the table and opened the largest of the books. Rows of curled writing had been neatly printed onto the yellowing pages, though the edges of the pages had the same blackened marks as the wall.

Oreyn cursed her inability to read: the body of the mage combined with what appeared to be wolves with the power of invisibility had aroused her curiosity more than anything had in prison and she was certain that this journal would give her some explanation.

The other books were far less intriguing, being the sort that were mass produced, and written by fools like Alessia Ottus. Occasionally she would hear the guards reading out some part of Ottus' books to their colleagues, accompanied by angry comments and she had often heard disparaging extracts about her race. It was one of the few areas in which she agreed with her captors: that Ottus woman was a self-important bigot and her books were good only as kindling.

Oreyn turned away from the books in disappointment - not one of them had any clues to what they were about, no pictures, no diagrams, nothing.

A search of the rest of the room revealed nothing more: the crates that were piled in one corner held nothing more than eating utensils and a few tools; the bedroll had clearly not been slept in for many years; and the alchemical tools on one table were covered in a thick layer of dust.

Irritated at the lack of evidence, Oreyn left the room. The first room she had explored had been completely empty and her glance around the third and final floor revealed nothing more than two old statues.

She was about to start examining the statue when she remembered Bellamont. She had only intended to check the fort was safe, not start an investigation as to the past of the mage. Bellamont would be waiting for her still, if he wasn't already dead.

Cursing, she headed down the stairs and started back to where Bellamont was waiting at a jog. After encountering no more attacks by unseen creatures, the exhilarated confidence she had after escaping the Bastion was returning. Maybe she had just imagined her 'invisible' wolf?

That was until she felt the arrow rip into her leg.


	4. Bandits!

The unexpected attack made her cry out in a mixture pain and surprise, and she slammed into the ground with a heaviness that defied her emaciated frame. The impact caused her injured arm to begin throbbing ever more painfully: now it burned so intensely that for a split second it completely consumed her mind.

Despite wishing simply to lie on the ground howling in pain, she knew it was vital to her survival that she move. She used her good arm to push herself into a squat, and it was just as well that she did as another arrow sliced into the ground where she had been lying.

Fumbling about her calf, she succeeded in gripping the thick shaft of the arrow that had hit her and ripped it out, though it nearly made her scream in pain to do so. She could feel the blood cascading down her calf, but she had more important things to think about - like staying alive. She would concentrate on not bleeding to death after she'd killed these bandits.

Clumsily, Oreyn pushed herself up and retreated backwards. She collected her magicka once more, feeling it streaking through her veins to crouch in her hands, like a tiger ready to pounce.

There was a blur of movement to her left, and she swung around to face her attacker.

Through his helmet, she could see that he was almost impossibly ugly, with a nose like a mutilated pig and brows that almost completely hid his eyes. His lips were twisted in a twisted parody of a smile, revealing uneven teeth that were so rotten as to be almost brown. One thick, shining scar ran from the corner of his mouth to his temple, making his face look as if it had been stuck there at an angle.

Oreyn snarled as viciously as she could, making her own lips curl back to display every single razor-sharp fang. She launched herself at the bandit, whose iron war hammer missed her by millimetres, clinging onto his steel armour.

"Zh'rana!" shouted the bandit, all the time attempting to knock Oreyn off with his hammer without injuring himself. He managed to land a punch in her stomach, but she could hear his pulse beating through his neck, stronger from exertion, and the hunger in her gave her the strength to hang on.

Another arrow whizzed past them, and Oreyn glanced up to see a Khajiit nocking another arrow to her bow.

A fireball burst from Oreyn's hand, and the Khajiit nearly dropped her weapon as she dodged it.

"Zh'rana!" roared the bandit she was clinging on to as the next arrow barely missed his foot. "If you hit me I'll fucking kill you!"

While he was distracted, Oreyn ripped off his helmet and sank her fangs into his throat. A scream of pain mixed with horror rasped from his mouth, but she could feel him weakening as she drained him. It took only a matter of seconds before he slumped, face completely colourless.

Newly energised, she wheeled around to face the Khajiit, only to see that she was already dead, and spread-eagled on the ground. A figure in leather armour was stood beside her, his back to Oreyn. After examining the Khajiit's face for a moment, he stood and kicked her.

"You'll want to make sure he's dead. Some of them actually have half a brain and will play dead if they're outmatched."

Oreyn, who had been preparing to attack this newcomer, gaped.

"Bellamont? I thought I told you to stay hidden by the rocks!"

The figure turned, and revealed that it was indeed Bellamont. He walked over to the other bandit, and kicked him too.

"Where the hell did you get that armour?" demanded Oreyn, "And what the fuck are you doing?"

"Like I said, some only pretend to be dead." After receiving no response from the bandit, he turned and sat on his chest with a grunt.

"And the armour?"

"There was a third one, looking for food I think. He didn't notice me until I sent the ice bolt at him. Took his armour, and his food too. Potato was a bit mouldy."

Oreyn blinked.

"He was carrying potatoes?"

"No. Just the one potato. And some carrots and what I _think _was an onion."

Utterly confused to have gone from killing bandits to talking about potatoes - correction, _one_ potato - Oreyn just stood there in silence.

"Well…at least you've got some more energy now." she said lamely.

Bellamont nodded, then reached into some hidden pocket in his armour and pulled out a carrot that seemed more yellow than orange. He crunched it, staring past her in the direction of the fort. Oreyn watched him, her brain still attempting to take in the strange turn of events.

"Um…shall we go to the fort then?" she asked, if only to fill the silence.

"It would probably be a good idea to search these two. They might have some useful supplies."

Oreyn nodded, and Bellamont slid off of the bandit and knelt at his side. He rifled through his armour, while Oreyn went to check the Khajiit.

A quick search revealed some kind of potion, two lockpicks and a tiny bottle of what looked suspiciously like skooma.

"Anything?" asked Bellamont from behind her, and she turned to see him holding up a couple more bottles, and an apple.

"What the hell do bandits carry around with them?" Oreyn asked, staring at the odd collection of items they had.

Bellamont chuckled, but didn't bother answering. From the same pocket he had pulled the carrot from, he produced a small bag.

"We can put everything we collect in here. It's what the other one was using to collect food in."

Upon deciding that there was no point in trying to figure out the events of the last few minutes, Oreyn nodded.

"We should go up to the fort now. We need to rest, and figure out what we're doing."

"Lead on."

* * *

"You want us to go down there? Are you mad?"

"How else am I going to survive in sunlight?"

"I thought you were fine as long as you fed regularly?"

"And where am I going to get a fresh supply of blood?" Oreyn snapped, hands on hips.

They had walked back towards the fort without meeting any further foes. Oreyn could not help but be a little grateful for the Breton's company - there was, after all, safety in numbers.

They were stood at the small door that lead down into the interior of the fort, arguing. Bellamont was reluctant to enter, and to tell the truth, Oreyn had to agree with him. The idea of facing any more enemies without any rest was an unpleasant one, but she could see no way of avoiding sunlight if she did not venture down.

"Surely you'll have at least one day?" asked Bellamont hopefully.

"It would be better to get it over with while I'm still strong from it."

"That food hasn't replenished me that much, and you're still injured."

Oreyn grimaced at this fact. Her leg and arm were both paining her greatly. She had bound them roughly with a strip of cloth torn from her shirt when they reached the fort, but they still hurt like hell.

"Fine." she said shortly. "Come on, it will be safer upstairs."

As she climbed the stairs, she was forced to concede that her injuries were indeed too much for her to fight on - or indeed walk on. Just five steps up and her leg gave out, but this time she was careful not to land on her arm.

"Do you really want to face a load of bandits and who knows what else on _that_?" Bellamont put in, but refrained from saying anything else at the look on her face.

Oreyn tried to stand again, but was forced to sit straight back down on the next step with an inelegant thump.

"Please tell me you don't expect me to carry you?" Despite intending it to come off as sceptical, he couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice.

Oreyn snarled, but Bellamont merely raised an eyebrow.

"It starts to lose the effect the thousandth time you do it. Besides, what are you going to do, crawl at me?"

His question was immediately answered by a flare aimed straight at his head. He ducked, all laughter gone.

"Don't mess with me Breton." hissed Oreyn, her eyes dangerous slits of scarlet, then concentrated her efforts of climbing further up the steps. It only took another minute of struggling before her leg was screaming protests at her to stop.

"For the love of Akatosh…" muttered Bellamont, then strode forward and lifted Oreyn over his shoulder.

"What in oblivion do you think you're doing? Let go of me! Right this minute!" The vampire hissed and spat at him, but her struggles were useless. "So much for the weak little Breton! You're just too scared. Coward!"

"You're about the weight of a pebble. I'd be worried if a child had trouble carrying you."

He set her down at the top.

"Think you can manage?"

Oreyn remained silent, but she cast him a look full of loathing. She watched him make his way around the fort, completely overlooking the skeleton when he reached the furthest room.

"I'll have this one." he called across the gap, then disappeared inside.

Muttering furiously to herself, Oreyn limped to the remaining room, and curled up on the floor to sleep. She was completely exhausted, but it took forever to fall asleep. Each time she started to feel drowsy, the sensation of falling would make her jerk back to life. After several hours though, pure fatigue nigh on knocked her out.


	5. Camp

Both Breton and Dunmer slept deeply, the events of the night having exhausted them. Oreyn only awoke when she heard a yell of fright break through the warmth of midmorning.

For a split second, she winced as the sunlight hit her skin, before realising she had fed the day before and would not need to fear it's rays. She sat up, rubbing her bleary eyes with the back of her hand, and yawned widely.

Suddenly, Bellamont stormed into the room, his feet making more noise than she would have thought possible on the stone.

"Why didn't you tell me there was a fucking skeleton here?" Bellamont demanded angrily, not noticing her attempts to hide the vast amounts of leg on show.

"So sorry, it must've slipped my mind…" muttered Oreyn with a slight smile that was wiped off her face by Bellamont's expression.

"You know, vampire, I have a lot of contacts in the Dark Brotherhood. If I were to ask them-"

"I thought all your contacts in the Dark Brotherhood started hating you when your cousin betrayed them?" replied the Dunmer coolly.

"Mathieu? He and I were never close, they all know that."

"The members of the Dark Brotherhood don't like taking risks though, do they?"

"What would you know?" sneered Bellamont. "Sithis would never select you."

"Oh would he not?" Oreyn stretched lazily, ignoring the pain in her limbs. "It just so happens I was contacted by Lachance to join, but I declined his offer. I work alone."

"That would explain how you ended up in prison."

"And how I escaped."

"Of course, because you escaped entirely on your own too." He snorted.

They glared at each other for one furious minute, then Oreyn turned her back on him.

"Go back to your room. Or are the old bones in there too frightening for you?"

She heard him exhale in anger, but after a moment his footsteps paced away from her.

After checking he was gone, Oreyn winced and pulled up her sleeve. She unwound the makeshift bandage carefully, worried that it would have stuck to the blood in her wound. Fortunately it had not, and she examined her bite mark carefully. A curving line of puncture marks traced her upper arm, reddish-brown where the blood had congealed.

As long as she kept it clean, it should heal relatively quickly, Oreyn reasoned. The marks were not particularly deep, she just had to pray it didn't get infected.

Her leg was another matter.

It stung as she gingerly unwound its bindings, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. Tears sprang unbidden to her eyes as she pulled away the last part of the cloth, although a difficult life had toughened her up and they dried almost instantly.

Just looking at her calf was enough to make her wince. It was crusted with dry blood, and some of her flesh had obviously come away when she'd ripped out the arrow. Bile rose in her throat at the sight of the raw pink flesh that was on display behind the blood, and it was a struggle to stop herself from feeling dizzy.

_Stop it. It's fine. _She told herself, but it was an unconvincing lie. _You're made of sterner stuff than this. Relax._

She screwed up her face.

_Do you want Bellamont to think you're weak? It's just a flesh wound._

Her skin was mottled where it had been caked with blood.

_Do not cry out. Remain silent._

It was a wonder she had not bled to death already.

She was distracted from her desperate attempts to remain silent by the reappearance of Bellamont in the doorway, the rough sack from the previous day hanging from his hand.

"We're going to have to remain on speaking terms if we don't want to get caught." he said in response to her cold stare. "I wondered if you were hungry?"

It was tempting to laugh in his face and reject his peace offering, but she was forced to admit that she would probably have been overwhelmed by the bandits if he had not been there. Swallowing her pride, she gave one slow nod.

He moved forward to hand her the bag, but leaped back at the sight of her leg.

"Shit! What the hell happened?"

She raised an eyebrow, though the façade of calmness was becoming ever more difficult to maintain when her leg felt like it was being torn apart.

"Oh…of course. Whoa. That's far worse than I thought. You should really have that looked at."

"Oh yes, I'll just waltz into Skingrad tomorrow and hand myself over, shall I?" Oreyn replied scathingly. "I'm sure they'll be delighted to help me. You know, before I'm executed."

This remark seemed to go unnoticed by Bellamont, who was clearly both repulsed and fascinated with the injury.

"I thought Bretons were meant to be the best at restoration? Couldn't you do something?"

"Restoration is for wet little mummy's boys like Mathieu. Destruction was - and is - more my sort of thing." he dragged his gaze from her leg just in time to see her bite her lip as a wave of pain shuddered through her body. "I know a bit though…it can't make it any worse."

She waved a hand, inviting him to go forward with it. He swallowed, then knelt by her leg, arranging himself carefully as to not get covered in blood.

After staring at it for a moment, he muttered something under his breath, screwed up his face and placed his hands carefully over the wound. Luminescent silvery-blue sparks slithered from his fingertips, and into the wound.

An odd sensation filled her leg - it was not exactly unpleasant, but it was definitely odd; almost as if slimy tentacles were gently pulling it in on itself.

"I think that's healed the deepest part…" murmured Bellamont.

"That is the oddest thing I have ever felt." stated Oreyn, stretching carefully. "It hurts less though."

Bellamont nodded, then quickly stood up, staring at his hands.

"You owe me. Big time." he said, showing her the dried blood that had flaked onto them. "I'm not healing you any more until you wash."

Oreyn granted him a brief half-smile, but he was already busy with the supply sack. He tossed her an apple, fishing another of his yellow carrots out of the bag. Oreyn sniffed the apple, then took a bite, crunching it slowly. Bellamont shook his head at her caution.

"Not even bandits are paranoid enough to poison their own supplies." he said as if speaking to an imbecile. For once, however, Oreyn did not respond to the provocation. She looked preoccupied with something else, but said nothing.

"So…" she began eventually, deciding it was best to get it out of the way "We need to go inside the fort today."

Bellamont furrowed his brow, but did not bother replying until he had finished his carrot.

"I was thinking it over all night. I think it would be a really bad idea to go down there now." Before she could interject, he continued: "We have no weapons except our magicka, we haven't got enough food and you're badly injured. Unless we tear up all of our clothes, there are no fresh bandages to bind your wounds with, we have no armour, and even if we were to find some it would be damaged beyond repair by the third battle because we are currently too weak to adequately defend ourselves, we cannot rely on help from the guards, there is-"

"Enough!" interrupted Oreyn, a low trace of a snarl entering her voice. "I know it's going to be difficult, but what else am I going to do?"

"I was getting to that bit. They way I see it, we have two options. One: somehow we cure you."

So taken aback was she that the apple fell from her hand, hitting the floor with a soft thump.

"C-c-cure me? Why in Oblivion would I want to be _cured_?"

"_Two_," he said, speaking over her, "You feed on me a little bit every day."

Astonishment was not an adequate word for what Oreyn felt - she was not even certain that there was a word to describe the positively gargantuan shock she felt at this statement.

"Y-y-you would…you would let me…feed on you? Willingly?"

It was an unspoken law among vampires and humans alike that no-one, not even the maddest of madmen, should let someone drink their blood . It was the ultimate violation, and so unendurably taboo that she had never before considered the possibility of having a willing victim.

And yet…it seemed to make sense. A little every day would keep her human enough to endure the sunlight, without weakening Bellamont. A little everyday of that warm, gooey substance that meant sustenance and power and life and death all in one. A little everyday of that explosion of taste that was beautiful and chaotic, and all those other things she held dear.

While these thoughts were swirling around her head, Bellamont seemed to have been talking to her. It took a moment to register that fact before she stumbled back to reality.

"…not like I'm happy about it, but it's got to be done." he was saying, his face set in grim determination. "The journal in the room I slept in speaks of magical experimentation. If he performed anything while inside the fort, it could mean daedra, undead, not to mention all the necromancers it would attract. It mentions invisibility: we wouldn't even _see _what was attacking us until-"

Something seemed to click in Oreyn's brain.

"Invisibility…" she murmured "Would that include everything around him?"

"Everything living."

"So what attacked me was-"

"A wolf that had been affected by his experiment. And if it worked on the wolf, it will have probably worked on everyone down there too." Here he pointed towards the floor. "Do you really want to fight a group of sorcerers that you can't see?"

"Do I really need to answer that?"

Bellamont shook his head, then continued: "So, as finding you a cure will probably take months, if not years, I don't see what option we've got except for you to feed on me." He paused to take in her reaction.

"You needn't look so disgusted. I promise my blood won't taste too foul."

"I…I wasn't disgusted." replied Oreyn, "Just surprised. You realise how insane this sounds?"

"It's going to be odd, I know. Maybe even painful. I just can't see any other way to stop you from burning to a cinder when the sun shines."

There was a silence filled only by the soft sounds of the wilderness around them, then Bellamont stood.

"We should look for water. You stink, and I'm thirsty." he said with a half smile. "Coming?"

"Anything to get rid of the stench you're emitting."


	6. At the Lake

It was about four in the afternoon, or so Oreyn guessed by the length of her shadow. They were nearly at Fort Nikel, another location that had proved useful to Oreyn in the past.

Bellamont kept looking around warily. They were barely fifty paces from the road, and they would have to cross it soon to reach the fort. There was every opportunity to meet a guard, they knew, and Oreyn was certain that the Imperial Legion would be looking for them by now.

"There it is."

Their approach slowed dramatically at the sight of the road. They had crossed one earlier, but it had been little more than a dirt track. This one was the connection point for travellers from Chorrol - and often these travellers included guards reporting back to the Imperial City.

"We must be quick. The sooner we are out of sight the better." whispered Oreyn, then flitted across, not giving herself time to worry.

Bellamont hesitated a moment longer than his companion. He was not, by nature, an impulsive person, and much preferred to stop and plan his moves - his escape from prison was one of the few truly impulse guided things he had ever done.

However, he knew the longer he dithered the more likely he was to get them both caught (something which he was certain Oreyn would make him sorely regret) and it was not long before he too was on the other side.

Nikel was significantly larger than Caractacus, but neither of the two paid any attention to the fort in relation to how attentively they looked at what lay beyond.

A small pool of clear water lay plain in sight, causing the dry ache in their throats to become a burning lust. The prospect of relieving their thirst was definitely an inviting one, and they started towards it quickly.

Oreyn was confused as to the reason for her craving - she had never desired water since undergoing the change from human to vampire. Yet the pool drew her just as much as it did her human companion, and she could think of no reason why except that she had grown accustomed to it.

The second they were close enough, Bellamont knelt and plunged his face into it, drinking greedily. With a tinge of disgust, Oreyn saw flecks of dirt drifting away on the ripples, and they grew in size as he scrubbed at his face.

Beneath the dirt his skin was almost transparent - his veins were almost the same azure hue as her skin. If she was honest with herself, Oreyn would have to admit that she was having difficulty seeing them so vividly pressed against the surface, tantalisingly close.

To distract herself, Oreyn knelt at the side of the water and splashed her own face. Dust floated away on the surface of the water, and slowly the liquid around her turned a muted grey. She found an odd satisfaction in feeling the smooth skin emerge beneath all the dirt, and could not help running her fingers across her cheek a few times.

It was as she was tracing the skin along her cheekbone that she heard Bellamont stand. From the corner of her eye, she watched him turn, then suddenly jerk with a yell of surprise.

"You should be more observant, Breton." came a smooth, oddly familiar voice from somewhere behind her. For some unfathomable reason, it made Oreyn's stomach twist and her blood boil with what felt like anger.

"And you, muthsera." the newcomer was saying, and it was as she spoke the last word that Oreyn realised who the voice belonged to. Slowly, she turned.

"Veresi." she stated, eyes narrowed.

The Dunmer stood ten paces from the edge of the water, hands on hips and arched eyebrows raised. Her head was held high, complimenting the arrogant expression on her face. Her posture was almost statuesque, and despite the many wrinkles that marred her skin, age seemed to have had no effect on her. Someone uninformed would think she was simply a proud old woman, but Oreyn knew there was more to it than that. The woman was a vampire, and - judging by the way she regarded Bellamont - a hungry one.

"Elrena!" Veresi replied, surprise clear in her voice. "I did not expect to see you out of The Bastion."

"I escaped, no thanks to you."

A wan smile brushed across Veresi's lips.

"I hope you will not begrudge me of that. I thought you would be more than a match for those mortals. Evidently, I was incorrect."

"Evidently." agreed Oreyn grimly.

"Who are you?" asked Bellamont from beside her, wiping a hand across his wet face. Oreyn pressed her lips together more firmly at the rude tone behind his voice, but Veresi seemed unconcerned.

"Well, Elrena, will you not introduce me? I would so love to meet your consort."

Oreyn's eyes widened with anger.

"Consort? Him? I promise you, Veresi, I would never consort with one of _them_." she spat, jerking her head at Bellamont.

"Something I am glad of. I would so hate to hear that your standards had fallen so far by the wayside." She surveyed the Breton carefully. "No, I'm sure we shall find a far better use for him."

The threat was obvious in her tone, but Bellamont seemed utterly oblivious to it, and instead stepped forward to demand that she tell him her name.

"That doesn't answer my question. Who are you, and why did you sneak up on us?"

"Bellamont!" said Oreyn sharply, not looking at him. Her eyes were fixed firmly on Veresi, whose haughty features had contracted into a look of anger.

"I would recommend that you introduce us, Elrena, before our supper sulks with us."

"He is not supper." Oreyn replied coldly.

"Then why is he travelling with you? There is no other use for a human."

Loathe as she was to admit it, Oreyn's next words sprung to her lips before she could stop them.

"We are friends. He helped me to escape."

Immediately, the anger was gone from Veresi's expression. In its place there was simply amusement mixed with incredulity.

"I am quite certain that imprisonment has had a far more dramatic effect on you than any other. I cannot recall you ever requiring _friends_." She ended with a small chuckle, and a smile spread across her thin lips.

Oreyn's pale skin flushed, seemingly spurring the other woman on.

"Elrena, muthsera, you need not be ashamed. We all have our little weaknesses. Well," she admonished, "some of us do. But come, idle chatter means little. Everyone is inside - they will be exulted at your rejoining of us."

"I am not rejoining you."

"But you sought us out?"

"No I didn't. I had no idea you'd be here."

"Oh." Veresi's brows arched. "But you will stay for a little refreshment? We may even find something for your _friend_. I am sure the others will be intrigued to hear your stories."

"There is little to tell." Oreyn replied shortly, but she recognised the determination in Veresi's eyes. The other vampire was stubborn, and she had set her sights on having them as the evening's entertainment.

"I will not take no for an answer. You would not deny me this one evening? I daresay it will be entertaining for us all to reminisce."

"But I must bathe. I'm still covered in filth from my time in The Bastion." Oreyn protested feebly.

"I had noticed. But there is no need to worry - we have been here for two years now, and found coming to the surface to bathe tiresome. After several attempts, we succeeded in creating a well inside, using water from the lake. You may cleanse yourself there."

Stifling a groan, Oreyn allowed herself to be lead towards the entrance of the fort. She glanced over her shoulder to see Bellamont staring at her in a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

_Follow. _She mouthed, and made a slight beckoning gesture with her hand. Bellamont's eyes narrowed, but he nodded and began walking.

Oreyn had a brief moment of indecision about whether to tell him just who he was about to meet, before deciding not to. He wasn't scared of one vampire, she hoped he wouldn't be bothered by seven.


	7. Claustrophobia

"M'saka!" called Veresi, her voice echoing through the sparse tunnels. "M'saka, we have visitors!"

The tone in her voice made Oreyn's skin crawl, but she had little time to give in to the unease before another familiar voice joined them.

"What is this, Veresi?" it hissed, "Why have you brought the prey inside?"

"Prey, M'saka? I can't see your sister around." Oreyn sneered, turning to the Khajiit who had seemingly come through the wall.

"Elrena." M'saka acknowledged in her low purr.

"How do you know these people?" muttered Bellamont, moving closer to Oreyn. She was glad to see he looked slightly uneasy - it would be wise to take caution when surrounded by so many potential threats.

"Old acquaintances."

"I'd gathered."

Oreyn didn't answer. She had turned her attention back to Veresi and M'saka.

"Where are the others?" Veresi was asking, glancing around. "They are normally up at the first scent of mortal blood."

"Her scent will disguise his."

"No." Veresi shook her head. "Can you not smell it? She has spent too much time around mortals, and it has tainted her scent." She turned to Oreyn. "You smell like humans, Elrena."

"I smell nothing mortal but the prey." said the Khajiit before Oreyn could answer.

"The Breton is not prey." Oreyn snapped.

"Then what is it doing here?"

"He's with me."

"A Breton for a mate?" The provocation was evident in her voice, and Oreyn was preparing to make another vehement objection to the suggestion that there was anything more than friendship between them, when Veresi interrupted.

"Peace, M'saka." she said smoothly, "Elrena has explained to me that the Breton is a friend, and nothing more. Now, shall we continue further in? I do so hate lingering in the entrances."

She brushed past M'saka, waving a hand for them to follow. M'saka scowled at Oreyn as she passed, then disappeared back into the darkness from which she had emerged.

"Pray ignore M'saka. She has gone through…difficulties…since you left." Veresi told them when they were out of earshot. Oreyn made a noncommittal noise, then turned to look at Bellamont.

He looked distinctly uncomfortable, and lines were engraved into his forehead. His eyes kept flitting around the tunnels as if expecting an attack at any moment. They paused on Oreyn, and he increased his pace to stand closer beside her.

"These people…there's something odd about them." he murmured, jerking his head towards Veresi. "Like they're made more of shadows than flesh."

Deciding it would be better to forewarn him about where they were headed, Oreyn gave him her full attention.

"They are like me." When his face remained blank, she opened her mouth and ran her tongue along the wickedly pointed tips of her fangs.

"You mean they're…" he mimed biting someone, turning his gaze to the elegant form leading the way through the tunnels.

She nodded, noting his expression increase in paranoia.

"Just don't anger them and you'll be fine." she muttered. "And by the way, Veresi can hear us."

"What?" hissed Bellamont, his voice going up several octaves.

Veresi laughed as if in response. Which, Bellamont thought grimly, it probably was. Her next words confirmed it.

"You needn't fear us, Breton. We would never hurt a friend of Elrena's."

Despite the meaning of her words, there was an undertone to her voice that made the hair on the back of his neck prickle with nervous energy. Instinct was screaming for him to sprint for the door, and the only thing that stopped him was the fear that M'saka would pounce from some unseen passageway.

The already weak light in the tunnel was fading quickly as they wove their way down. It had clearly been expanded, as several tunnels that branched from the one they were following had none of the sturdy grey brick that lined the larger ones. The dark brown walls had marks that seemed to have been dug out by claws, and looked as if they would collapse any second. The slightest disturbance would make smatterings of dust and small bits of rock shower from the ceilings.

Typically, it was down one of these that Veresi lead them.

Immediately, the claustrophobia hit Bellamont and Oreyn with the suffocating awareness that tons of earth rested above their heads. The passage was no more than a metre wide, and the walls sloped towards each other at the top. As they continued down it, it narrowed further, until it was barely wide enough for someone to walk down.

Eventually, it reached the point where they had to turn sideways as it curved, and Bellamont watched Veresi, then Oreyn walk out of sight. Immediately his sense of confinement heightened - he felt as if he had been buried alive.

With a sense of desperation, Bellamont crammed himself through the shrinking gap in front of him. The sight that greeted him was almost a relief.

Almost.

The moment he had passed through the tiny crevice, it opened out into an enormous hall. He would have paused to wonder at the impossibly intricate architecture of the hall, but something else had caught his attention.

It might have been the towering statue of a god, gilded with shining plates of gold and eyes of glittering jewels.

It might have been the massive throne that lay at the other end of the hall, entwined with vines and carved with images of fantastical creatures.

It might have been the four vampires that stood over the mutilated, blood drained corpses of humans.


	8. Vampire Duels

Bellamont froze, eyes fixated on the scene before him.

Six bodies lay at the feet of the vampires, one still twitching slightly. It was nothing like he would have pictured a vampire's feeding time - disturbingly clean: not a single drop of blood had escaped the lips of the vampires. They all looked perfectly groomed, and only a slight smear of blood across the bottom lip of one of them suggested they had been doing anything suspicious.

Their clothes were evidently expensive - one, the only woman, was clad in robes of brocade velvet, with a glimpse of scarlet damask just visible beneath. Another, a Nord, was draped with golden amulets, decorative rings clinking on six of his fingers. A third seemed to have a golden thread plaited into a section of his hair, and his doublet of pale grey silk was slashed to show through more silk in sapphire blue. He was in charge - the jauntily placed circlet around his head announced that clearly.

"Resaran!" Veresi announced from somewhere to his left. "Look who's come back to us!"

Bellamont whipped his neck around to where she stood, Oreyn beside her. With a slight push from Veresi, Oreyn began walking towards the four vampires.

"Elrena!" said the vampire with the circlet, his voice immediately making Veresi's commanding tones sound feeble. This was a man who was used to being listened to and obeyed. Layers of strength and nobility made it reverberate against the walls as if the words had been shouted - yet they had been spoken almost as softly as the whimpers from the one living human in the pile of bodies.

"Resaran!" Oreyn replied with an uncharacteristic smile. "It's been too long!"

The vampire, Resaran, strode forward, stopping a few paces from her. With a practised grace, he bowed his upper body to take her hand and kiss it.

"We were so disappointed when Veresi returned without you. And then we heard you had been captured - we were, of course, furious at your treatment-"

"And so you decided to massacre an entire section of the legion?" Oreyn returned in a tone that was oddly light considering the nature of her words. "I appreciated the gesture."

Bellamont recalled vaguely that she had. He was not exactly the epitome of empathy, but the news that a gang of vampires had infiltrated the barracks, murdered about a hundred members of the Imperial Legion and then drained nineteen civilians of their blood had given the newly imprisoned vampire a sick sense of amusement that was completely alien to him. Any major crime he committed was out of need, or revenge, and the massacre of so many at one time turned his stomach.

"I am so very glad." Resaran was saying, straightening and releasing Oreyn's hand. "And I, in turn, appreciate that you have brought us a gift. It is a pity we have already eaten."

With a familiar stab, Bellamont realised they were talking about him. Oreyn seemed to have expected the vampire leader to come to that conclusion, but seemed noticeably less concerned than she had previously.

"I regret to say that the Breton is not food, merely an acquaintance of mine." she said, almost lazily, brushing a hand in his general direction.

"Acquaintance?" wondered one of the other vampires from further up the hall. Bellamont peered through the dim light, noticing that it was the Nord who spoke. He clicked on each syllable with an accent that was clearly not from Skyrim. It sounded almost reptilian, as if he had grown up in Black Marsh. In fact, if Bellamont had not known who spoke, he would have guessed that the voice came from an Argonian, or possibly another Khajiit. At any rate, it didn't sound human.

Oreyn, having obviously met them all before, did not give any indication of surprise at the unnatural voice of the Nord.

"A friend, really." she responded.

"Friends? Often a useless sentimentality, I find." Resaran interrupted.

"Then what would you call your little coven?"

"I said often, not always. And we are so much more than friends, are we not? We are a community. A small one, I confess, but a community nevertheless."

"Very touching, Resaran." the Nord put in with a sarcastic smile.

"I am glad you think so Skjaer. Because I do believe it's your turn to take the role of community cleaner. Do dispose of dinner, won't you?"

Skjaer's eyes widened indignantly.

"I cleared the corpses yesterday! Have Aminus do it!"

Another of the vampires stepped forward. This one was an Imperial, with unusually bright blond hair.

"I cleared them yesterday."

"Liar."

"Must you two always bicker?" snapped Veresi impatiently. It had obviously been her idea to present Oreyn to the rest of them and receive praise for it - the shift in attention to Resaran and Oreyn had ended that notion.

"Just duel for it." agreed another voice, and Bellamont saw that it was the female vampire who had been feeding with Skjaer, Aminus and Resaran.

She moved to stand beside the two, hands on hips.

"Duel?" snapped Aminus to Skjaer. The Nord nodded, and with barely a second's warning he pounced towards the Imperial.

Bellamont's idea of a duel was far different to what the vampires considered one. He had thought it would involve some form of swordplay, like that he saw aristocratic members engage in after the mildest of slights. There was generally a lot of poncing around, trading insults, but not much actually fighting. And it was certainly never brutal or animalistic.

Unlike vampire duels.

After Skjaer launched himself at Aminus, the atmosphere in the room tensed to one of wary anticipation.

The Imperial managed to evade the attack, and sank into a feral crouch, emitting a snarl like that of a wolf. His eyes seemed to glow an even more vivid scarlet, like beacons in the dim light.

Skjaer was also close to the floor like an animal, and he had streaked towards Aminus on all fours with inhuman speed. He grasped his foe by the shoulders, slamming him into the dirt, fangs snapping for his throat. The Imperial snarled again, flipping the Nord onto his back. With equal verve, Skjaer bucked him onto the floor, then slammed his palm onto the back of his head. With a crunch that made it clear his jaw was broken - if not completely shattered - Aminus' face smashed into the grey stone.

With a snarl of pain and anger, Aminus dragged himself up and sprang forward. Fingers extended, he scratched his nails down his opponent's chest before being deflected by a powerful kick in the ribs. Skjaer scrambled to his feet, spraying blood from the five gouges in his chest.

Bellamont was so transfixed, he barely noticed the hand on his chest, pushing him further towards the edges of the room until Oreyn snapped at him to move.

"Don't stand too close! It isn't unheard of for watchers to get dragged into the fighting." she hissed, wiping a splatter of blood off of her cheek. Bellamont realised there was a matching smear on his own face - he remembered feeling something on his cheek during the fight, although he hadn't taken the time to check what it was.

"Are they going to kill each other?" he whispered without looking at her.

"Over the cleaning up? No. This is mild in comparison to what they would do if they were trying to kill each other."

"_This _is mild?"

She flashed a dark grin at him.

"By vampire standards, definitely. There might be a rougher one when M'saka realises no one told her though."

"I bet there would." muttered Bellamont - the Khajiit was obviously bloodthirsty.

He turned his attention back to the duel. The Nord had Aminus pinned down, and was trying to force his shoulders to the floor. Eventually he managed it by digging one pointed nail into it until it became too painful to resist.

"Ha!" shouted Skjaer triumphantly, and with an athletic cat-spring, he jumped back to his feet.

Aminus scowled, then grunted in pain as his broken jaw contorted. With a dark glare at his opponent, he raised his hand and slashed across his palm. Blood trickled from the wound, and he used one finger to transfer three drops of the crimson liquid to the Nord's own palm. Grinning, Skjaer licked it off.

"Why did he do that?" Bellamont asked Oreyn in disgust.

"Skjaer is the victor, so he is owed three drops of blood. It is a show of dominance." answered Resaran, surprising Bellamont. He hadn't noticed him move beside Oreyn.

Before Bellamont could reply, Resaran had moved away from them, back to the centre of the hall.

"Well fought." he told the duellers, then gestured towards the pile of bodies. The one who had been alive when Veresi, Oreyn and Bellamont had entered had since died - painfully, by the expression on his face - although had managed to drag himself across the floor to rest beside the corpse of a young woman.

"Aminus, you lost the duel. Clear the remains."

Begrudgingly, he went to the carcasses, seized the nearest by the leg and lifted it. There was a sickening scraping sound as the victim's nails scratched the ground, as if trying to claw himself away from his killers.

"Not too much for your stomach, is it Breton?" Skjaer asked, one heavy eyebrow raised, voice tinted with mockery.

Bellamont raised his hazel eyes to meet the scarlet ones. His face concealed his actual revulsion with a mask of sneering contempt.

"Don't mistake me for one of the Imperial City weaklings." he said, "I'm not going to puke my guts out at the sight of some stiffs."

Several more eyebrows joined Skjaer's as the other vampires took in his statement. Resaran, predictably perceptive, stepped forward to voice their thoughts before they did it in a more unsavoury manner.

"It may surprise you to know this, Breton, but several of our number are - as you so ineloquently put it - Imperial weaklings. And yet, I doubt one such as you would last more than ten seconds if one of them were to attack you." His tone was level, almost pleasant, but the threat was obvious. _Provoke us, _it said, _and you will die before you know what's happening._

Bellamont swallowed, immediately regretting his words.

"I spoke hastily…forgive me…" he muttered.

"Yes, you did." Veresi put in coldly. "And we shall see about forgiving you."

Shifting uncomfortably, the Breton cast a look at Oreyn. Her eyes, so similar in shade to the other vampires', had a slightly fearful concern in them.

_So, _he thought, _you're more wary of them than you let show._

"It has been a long day for us." Oreyn said suddenly.

"Of course." replied Resaran, smiling. "Well, we have several empty chambers. You will, of course, stay for the night?"

Her jaw tensed fractionally - had it been anyone else, it would have been imperceptible. But these vampires' senses were heightened inhumanly, and every tiny movement they made seemed to be obvious to them.

"There is no question of your leaving." Veresi said immediately, "Surely you are not keen to depart?"

"Of course not!" Oreyn said far too quickly, but the others said nothing.

"Well then, you will sleep in the empty rooms. Amelie, pray show them the way."

The female vampire, Amelie, nodded sharply.

"Gladly. Come then, Elrena."

Bellamont followed without hesitation, desperate to escape the imposing presence of the group.

Out, through a narrow passageway Amelie lead them. It slanted downwards sharply, going at least a mile beneath the earth. The feeling of claustrophobia was back - although it was almost welcome after the vulnerability he had felt in the cavernous hall.

Oreyn seemed more relaxed too, although she had never looked particularly tense even when surrounded by all those potential threats, each one obviously volatile.

She seemed to sense his thoughts, as she turned with a smile.

"Amelie has always been one of the calmer members of this group. You can relax."

"Besides, I miss the company of Bretons." Amelie said from somewhere ahead. "And I am therefore reluctant to lose a chance of news - I've had so little information about High Rock these past years. None, in fact."

"I'm afraid I won't be able to help you there." he replied, put at ease by the vampire's friendly tone. "I've been in prison these past ten years. Not much news there either."

"Oh." responded Amelie, obviously disappointed. "A pity. I had looked forward to hearing news from others of our kind."

"Have you not left this fort?"

"Only on hunting trips. It is best to stay away from mortals - even with blood, we've become so accustomed to not disguising ourselves that our appearance hardly changes."

"I wondered about that." Oreyn said, "Your eyes are still red."

"So are yours."

"What?"

"Your eyes are still red." repeated Bellamont. "Even though you fed yesterday."

"It is a trait shared by any vampire within these walls." Amelie explained, obviously noting the confusion in Oreyn's voice. "Anyway, here you are. Take whichever ones you like."

The passage opened into a wide hallway, six or seven doors placed at regular intervals on each side.

"Thank you, Amelie." Oreyn said with a smile that was mirrored on Bellamont's face.

"It was nothing." replied Amelie, then turned and left.

Bellamont breathed a sigh, finally free of the vampires that seemed so feral in comparison to the one who stood beside him.

"I can scarcely believe that before now I would have said _you _were a threatening vampire."

Oreyn laughed.

"Time around mortals has softened me up. I am near saintly in comparison."

"I know you are."

"I'd get some sleep if I were you. Maybe you'll offend them less if you're alert." said Oreyn, serious again. "Choose whichever chamber you want."

He nodded.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."


	9. A Restless Night

_A.N. This chapter gets a little disturbing (minor torture) after the first dream, so if you're particularly sensitive to that sort of thing you may want to avoid that part. Enjoy!_

_

* * *

_

_Elrena streaked through the forest, ducking under branches and leaping over logs. Twigs from the surrounding trees tore at her skin, each one grasping at her nimble frame as if to hold her captive there._

_Her lips parted in a snarl of triumph as she leapt forward, onto the shoulders of the wheezing man in front of her. He cried out, plummeting to the moist ground like a rock._

_"Please!" he begged, "My wife! My children!"_

_Elrena ignored him. She had not fed for days, and her mouth was so dry that it felt like a desert. The burn of thirst growled at the back of her throat, and the man's frantic pulse was sounding like a drum. She didn't just hear it though - it pounded through her body, almost overwhelming her with its delicious tingles. She heard it, smelled it, felt it caress her insides._

_Without another second's hesitation, she plunged her fangs straight into the man's bare neck, ripping open his throat. There was no need to be clean - she was deep in the forests, no one would be there to see the man's remains until long after anything she spilled had been concealed by the animals._

_It felt good to feel the man's lifeblood slipping past her lips. It was warm, and filled with an energy that went straight through her body. Her skin crawled with sensations, bristling with feeling and activity. Not even a skooma-addict's buzz could rival the high that she was getting from the exquisite substance._

_The snap of a twig to her left made her newly refreshed senses snap into action. It was followed by a rustling - far too quiet for normal ears to detect, but just audible to those with heightened hearing._

_Elrena dropped the man, now only a drained-out corpse. Every instinct was telling her something knew she was there, something was watching her._

_Then the something stepped out of the trees._

_It was a Dunmer - male, with strikingly high cheekbones, his back poker straight yet his forehead wrinkled with the years. His scarlet eyes were long and thin, the pupils excessively large as if he were on skooma. It was easy to overlook him at first - his woollen shirt was mottled in varying shades of green and brown, giving the effect of blending into the trees around them._

_"Who are you?" Elrena snarled, wiping the last dribbles of blood from her chin with the back of her hand._

_"I could ask the same of you, my Dunmer sister."_

_"I asked you first. Answer me!"_

_The stranger smiled, and held his hand sup as if in surrender._

_"Very well. My name is Resaran Verenim, son of Relmyna, mother to the Gatekeeper and mate of Sheogorath." His voice was smooth, his tone neutral. "And you?"_

_"Elrena Oreyn, sister of Modryn Oreyn of the Fighter's Guild."_

_Resaran raised an eyebrow._

_"Are you also of the Fighter's Guild?"_

_"Ha!" She barked the sound out in contempt. "I would never join them. Would you?"_

_"Of course not. All that running around, waving weapons over your head and charging in, seems rather crude to me. I prefer more sophisticated methods of getting my way."_

_"You sound like a member of the Dark Brotherhood."_

_"I was expelled. They never had a member break so many Tenets in his first week."_

_"Perhaps that was before I joined them. All five, first day. A bad night for the Wrath of Sithis."_

_Resaran laughed._

_"It seemed almost unfortunate to kill such a delightfully bloodthirsty creature."_

_"It was necessary."_

_"My sentiments exactly."_

_There was a pause, each one surveying the other. Resaran seemed to be watching her with an almost critical eye, as if assessing her for weaknesses. There was nothing hostile in his stance however, and Elrena's instincts had quieted._

_"What are you doing here?" she asked; this time her voice was less accusatory._

_"Seeking you out." he replied, surprising her. Immediately she was suspicious, and her tone returned to one of distrust._

_"Why?"_

_"If I am correct, because you are one of my kind." He smiled widely, and she caught a glimpse of ivory fangs._

_"I suppose this is damning evidence." she gestured towards the carcass lying at her feet. "But what business is it of yours?"_

_"We were wondering whether you would consider joining our coven."_

_"We?"_

_"I have several…acquaintances. We have been considering creating a coven somewhere near Leyawiin."_

_"So you came to look for me, a woman who may or may not be a vampire, whose name you did not know, to join a coven that does not yet exist?" It was Elrena's turn to raise an eyebrow._

_"Admittedly it sounds unlikely. But surely the benefits are worth the risk of joining?"_

_"What benefits?"_

_Resaran didn't answer for a moment. Instead, he walked across to one of the trees, one with a particularly smooth trunk. With one easy motion, he sprang up to a higher branch, a good five metres up._

_Elrena gave a low whistle of appreciation, but he wasn't finished. In a movement as smooth as the first, he leapt from that branch to another, three metres to his left and at least as many above. From there he jumped to the ground, landing in a crouch, then straightened immediately._

_Suddenly he lashed out at the earth, his arm sinking up to his armpit, then withdrew it._

_Wide eyed, Elrena crouched, never taking her eyes from Resaran, and felt the soil at her feet. It was compacted tightly, hard as rock. She punched her own fist into it with all the force she could muster, going about half as deep as Resaran had._

_"Your strength is unusual." she told him, "Even for one of us. But what interest is that to me?"_

_"You will have the support of others. The rest of the coven to watch your back. Hunting, evading the Legion, eradicating vampire hunters - all easier. Surely it appeals to you?"_

_Elrena scanned his face for a second, looking for some sign that she was being tricked. Finding none, she slowly nodded._

_"It does." _

_The other vampire smiled again._

_"Then you will join us?"_

_It was with only the briefest of hesitations that she said "Yes."_

With a low groan, Oreyn rolled onto her stomach. She muttered something incoherent, then slipped back into unconsciousness.

_"She's betrayed us!" roared Skjaer, his crimson eyes blazing at the unfortunate figure being held by her throat against the wall._

_"I didn't!" gasped the Bosmer, clutching at her captor's hands, but her desperate pleas for innocence were ignored by the five pairs of furious eyes that glared at her._

_"We don't tolerate traitors here!" snarled Elrena, pushing forward to spit the words into her face. She reached forward and prised the Bosmer's fingers from Skjaer's. Then, slowly, deliberately, she snapped the first one, then the second and continued down to her thumb._

_The Bosmer screamed shrilly at the pain as her final digit splintered, the bone sticking through the pale skin, hot, sticky blood beginning to run from the wound. _

_"It wasn't me! It wasn't me!" she shrieked as M'saka went to do the same to her other hand._

_"If only we could believe that." replied Veresi icily, motioning for Skjaer to increase the pressure on her throat._

_As her bones broke, a agonised rasp slipped through the Bosmer's lips. It seemed almost to spur the others on - after finishing with her fingers, they moved onto her wrists and down her arm, taking the time to thoroughly shatter each one._

_Elrena smiled sadistically at her victim._

_"Regretting it yet? You never did think of the consequences before opening your mouth."_

_Resaran stepped forward beside her. The others stopped to regard their leader, the Bosmer's eyes wide and full of new fear._

_"As my mother would say, there is one sure way to stop a tongue flapping." he said slowly. Then, relishing every word, he continued "Cut it out."_

_The Bosmer started squirming with renewed desperation._

_"Please! Resaran, please!" she whimpered, "I would never betray you! Never!"_

_He ignored her pleas, gesturing for the others to hold her still as he advanced. Their eyes glittering maliciously, they helped to hold open her mouth. With obvious enjoyment, Resaran raised his hand, a small silver dagger held in his fingers. Slowly, he lowered it into the Bosmer's screaming mouth…_

Oreyn woke with a shudder, the dreams still running in the front of her mind.

No, not dreams.

Memories.

It was hard to believe she had ever been so depraved, so sadistically twisted. But even now, the triumphant feeling of revenge mixed with anger was easy to remember. They had tortured the Bosmer until her heart stopped, then deposited her body into the office of the Imperial Legion. The next day, M'saka returned from her turn hunting with the article of the Black Horse Courier, keeping them all entertained for a while. It had amused her, how the Legion pretended she had been on the 'good' side, using her as another implement in their quest to spread hatred of vampires.

Sickening.

It wasn't just that that was bothering her though. It was how they had laughed with the Bosmer the night before. Ilathira, her name had been. She had the keenest ears, the longest stride. She had been just over ninety-eight – reasonably young by their standards. She had also been the most compassionate.

It was for her compassion that they had suspected her. Somehow the Legion had known the entire coven would be in the open earlier that day. Ten soldiers, armed to the teeth, had ambushed them, vampire hunters among them. They managed to kill another member - an Imperial by the name of Kaiden.

They never knew exactly who had betrayed them: that was the worst part. But Ilathira had the misfortune to be the hunter the day before. The most likely candidate for betrayal, most likely to feel remorse for her actions. So they murdered her.

Oreyn gasped as a new thought hit her.

She was feeling sorry for the Bosmer, regretting the ruthless cruelty she had used. She was feeling compassion.

As Ilathira had proved, compassion was dangerous.

Time around mortals had softened her up. She would be the next person under suspicion, after so many years away from the coven. So many years for the Legion to get to her. And in the Bastion too, not Leyawiin where the guards were corrupt and open to bribery.

She was in serious trouble.

Defending Bellamont had been a bad move. She should've let them drain him, prove she was as heartless as ever. But she wasn't.

She was beginning to feel for Bellamont. Not romantically - she would never degrade herself by loving a Breton. But after years stuck in prison together, they had formed a friendship and reliance on each other that would be difficult to break. No matter how they argued, teased, threatened, they were close. Lately, even closer.

Oreyn sat up, attempting to turn off her mind. It was bad enough that she had become accustomed to sleeping all night. The others were semi-nocturnal, waking at midday and sleeping at around three in the morning. She needed to make herself more like them if she was to avoid their suspicion.

The way M'saka had spoken to her earlier was a bad sign. Before she had been feared, Resaran's favourite, second in command alongside Veresi. None of them would have dared to mock her then, none of them would have dared to suggest she was in any way connected to a Breton.

There was no way she would fall asleep again with the thoughts that were already beginning to haunt her.

Swinging her feet out of bed, Oreyn walked to the small cupboard that stood in the corner. Inside she had found a simple dress to sleep in - a silvery-grey silken shift that fell to her ankles. Now she pulled out a length of black cord to tie around her waist before stepping out into the hallway.

Loud snoring from a room further down told her Bellamont was still deep asleep. For some reason it bothered her - almost as if she were angry that he could sleep so soundly while she was tortured by her own mind.

Because of that, she allowed her door to slam shut, causing the snores to cease with a startled grunt, soon followed by a slightly scared "Who's there?"

"Just me." replied Oreyn through the door, immediately feeling guilty for waking him up. She should have let him sleep, let him enjoy his peaceful dreams.

Because she knew what she had to do.

She had to let them kill Bellamont.


	10. History

_A.N. I know it has been unforgiveably long since I last updated. Sorry! Hopefully this chapter will be interesting enough to make up for that. ~ CM_

Oreyn headed up the passageway, her eyes seeing the way easily despite the darkness. Her mind had none of that clarity though - images of Bellamont being ripped apart looped through her head, merged with conflicting emotions of pain and self-preservation.

Could she really betray him so easily? It would be difficult…and how would she propose it to them? Somehow "I need you to trust me, so feel free to kill my friend" didn't sound promising.

Unless she let him get himself into trouble - he had the lack of tact, all she needed to do was sit back and watch. But that could take months.

Her original plan of leaving in the morning was looking less and less likely. The coven had never been fond of deserters: once you were in, you were in for life. And she had definitely been in before.

But would the time she'd spent with them so many years ago make up for the lack of trust they no doubt had in her now? Would they rely on her moral compass remaining broken?

Suddenly Amelie appeared from around a corner, interrupting Oreyn's thoughts. The Breton look worried, but as soon as she saw Oreyn her expression spread into one of friendly surprise.

"Elrena! I wasn't expecting you to be up at this hour. After so long around mortals I would have thought you practically diurnal!"

Oreyn forced a smile.

"You would think so, wouldn't you? But it still feels unnatural to be awake in the sunlight. Or to be in any sunlight whatsoever."

Amelie gave a knowing nod, then held out a small bundle that Oreyn hadn't noticed.

"I was coming to drop these off. There are still many of your old clothes lying around, and I thought they would be preferable to the dusty dresses from the cupboards."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

The comment seemed to genuinely please Amelie. Her smile became wider, showcasing the rows of perfect teeth.

_It's difficult to believe she's a vampire. _Oreyn thought. Despite the Breton's dangerous appearance, she had an almost sickeningly sweet personality - and, unlike Veresi's kind demeanour, completely authentic. The amiable smile she wore was completely out of place on the angled face with its sharply pointed cheekbones, vivid crimson eyes and arched brows.

_She's kind, she's caring, she's alive. _Was Oreyn's next thought. If sweet-natured Amelie had survived for years with the coven, why couldn't she?

But then, Amelie was also a vicious hunter, and shockingly bloodthirsty - the way she had suggested the duel earlier was a sign of that. It was only to vampires - and occasionally other Bretons like Bellamont - that she showed her sugary core.

Oreyn's hands took the bundle while she thought. Amelie's voice had become nothing more than a buzz in the background, until she waved slowly to Oreyn.

"I hate to interrupt your thoughts, but we should probably take those clothes down to your chamber. Unless you were heading anywhere in particular?"

"No, I just needed to stretch my legs." Oreyn turned and lead the way back to the spare chambers. When they reached them, Bellamont was stood in the doorway, looking towards the passage.

"Oreyn. Amelie." he said with a smile with only the merest hint of forcedness.

"I'm sorry, we didn't wake you did we?" Amelie replied.

"It's fine." he paused for a moment, as if wondering how to phrase something, but Amelie spoke before he could.

"It seems peculiar, you knowing my name when I am so clueless about yours."

Bellamont's face became surprised.

"Exactly what I was about to say." He extended a hand. "Aleric Bellamont."

"Nice to meet you then, Aleric Bellamont. Or just Aleric?" Amelie responded, giving him her hand in return. He paused, then gave it the formal kiss that rich gentlemen always seemed to give ladies, before dropping it again.

"Aleric will do."

Oreyn gave a short snort of laughter.

"Your first name is Aleric? Somehow…it's not quite you." she said in response to the Bretons' questioning looks.

"It's preferable to Bellamont, actually. Any name that associates me with my bastard family is a crap name." His face turned bitter for a second, then relaxed.

"Then I will call you Aleric." responded Oreyn, trying to keep her amusement out of her voice. "In which case I suppose you had best call me Elrena."

"Oh, that's why they keep calling you that!" Bellamont - or Aleric, as she now tried to think of him - said.

"Is it not obvious?"

"Well…how am I to know it's not another one of your vampire words? Like - what was it Veresi called you? _Muthsera._"

"Technically, that is a Dunmer word." Amelie put in. "But seeing as so many of our kind are in fact Dunmer, it seems to be coming popular for even non-Dunmer to use it."

He made a non-committal noise.

"Dunmer, vampire - I can't tell the difference. They're all unfriendly, intimidating and deceptive. Present company excluded of course." He didn't say it, but it was obvious he referred only to Amelie, making Elrena roll her eyes.

"I am not as bad as you think I am. Honestly, I can be friendly. Occasionally."

"Very occasionally."

Amelie laughed lightly.

"Aleric may have a point. When I first met you I was terrified!"

Elrena grinned.

"I suppose I was rather feral back then." she conceded, "But that does not mean I am eternally brusque. Just…normally."

The three of them laughed, and for a moment it was as if they were three normal friends, not in danger of being attacked by five vampires.

Although, perhaps if Oreyn could win Amelie over, she would stand up for them. And then the others might stop and question why they would betray them, and things would work out fine?

Somehow she doubted that would work.

But then again, she would only have a problem if they had some reason to think she was passing on information. As long as everything continued smoothly, there would be no reason to feel endangered. Well, more endangered than anyone would feel in the company of a coven of ruthless bloodsuckers.

And there might be a way of persuading them to let her return to the rest of Cyrodiil and civilisation. It was just when to develop it, make sure she knew exactly the right thing to say. But as long as they were in a good enough mood, there would be no reason to object.

Feeling considerably more positive, Elrena lead the way through to her chamber, closely followed by Amelie and Aleric. She placed the clothes carefully into the cupboard, then sat back down onto her bed. Amelie sat beside her, and - after a second of hesitation - Aleric lowered himself down a little way apart from the two of them.

There was an awkward silence, each person attempting to think of a way to keep the conversation going. Eventually, Aleric took a breath and asked the question he had obviously been wondering since Veresi's first appearance.

"How do you know each other?"

Elrena shifted uncomfortably.

"It's a long story."

"What else have we got to do?"

For a moment she considered refusing, then decided it would be better to tell him the truth.

"When I was first turned into a vampire, I was on my own. The vampire who turned me - my 'Sire' - was lynched days later. No-one who knew me knew what I had turned into, and with careful feeding I managed to keep up the façade. Eventually I learned to manage my need for blood so well that I rarely needed it, but it was difficult to keep it secret from the Legion. There were reports of shadowy intruders appearing in the bedchambers of the citizens, and there were suspicions that they were somehow linked to the thefts that were also occurring. Dunmers have long been the Legion's scapegoats, which automatically placed me under suspicion. It was almost like having a sign over my head saying 'ARREST THIS PERSON'.

So, I decided to leave the cities and head for the wilderness. It's perfectly possible to survive on merchants and travellers if you're careful. I took bottles with me, never draining people fully. Admittedly stale blood wasn't my favourite of drinks, but the constant threat of being imprisoned by the Imperial Legion had been shadowing my entire life, especially since I turned. It was nice to be free, if you know what I mean."

Aleric and Amelie nodded in unison, despite the fact that the former's head was still reeling from 'never draining people fully'. Draining anyone of any amount of blood gave his normally strong stomach a twinge.

"It was difficult, more so than you might think. Still, travellers were surprisingly common - bandits too. And animal blood, despite tasting awful, still works as a last resort. For a little while at least. Then you start to go psycho.

Anyway, I lived in the forests and mountains for fifteen years or so, almost as feral as the creatures that inhabit it. Among the locals of places I went near most, there were legends of wild-women who prowled after dark. I was almost a fable, used to keep disobedient children from wandering astray.

I suppose the vampires recognised the stories of withered bloodsuckers with strength and speed that belied their appearance, because soon after, whilst hunting, Resaran appeared in the forest."

Elrena paused for a moment, her dreams flooding back. The shadows were still there, cool on her skin, and the way the forest silenced when she entered. The final scream of the Nord she killed, the soft sounds of their feet as she and Resaran walked away from the body.

"He explained that he and a few others - who I later discovered to be Veresi, Skjaer, M'saka and two more - were interested in creating a coven, and wondered if I would join them. After my initial suspicions, I agreed. That was when he lead me to our original camp - Fort Blueblood. Blueblood was far smaller than this one - although I doubt they differed much in size before these deeper tunnels were dug."

Amelie nodded.

"This fort was originally very small. But we persuaded some mortals from near here to come and dig the extra tunnels."

A half smile tugged at Elrena's lips.

"Persuaded?"

Amelie gave a short laugh.

"Persuaded…coerced…threatened…it's all the same. But do go on! I cannot recall you ever telling me your story in full."

"It's not something I enjoy. But it's good for you to know, I suppose." she paused, then continued with her story. "We fixed up Blueblood nicely for the seven of us. It was small, but close to fresh supplies of blood and water and we survived well enough for a few years. That was when the first purge began." At those words, a slight shiver ran down Elrena's spine, and Amelie shifted uncomfortably. Noting his companions' shift in mood, Aleric cocked his head inquisitively.

"The first purge?"

Amelie turned to him with a grave expression. "The Order of the Virtuous Blood - the largest group of vampire hunters in Tamriel - occasionally have large periods of time devoted to the mass execution of our kind."

"Virtuous! A blatant misnomer - they are about as virtuous as a harlot!" interrupted Elrena, a snarl entering her voice. "Murderers, all of them! They slaughtered hundreds of our kind in the first purge. From Black Marsh to High Rock, vampire hunting packs ambushed us with numbers too great to fight. At first we retaliated, but it was too dangerous. We were outnumbered ten to one. One of my coven, a Bosmer, was butchered in front of us." As the full memory began to reform in her head, her voice began to shake with fury. "We couldn't do anything but watch as they ripped her to pieces! _That,_" she spat, "Was when I knew humans were nothing but hypocritical scum! They claim to be civilised, merciful! Would they have mercy on her? No! Hours of screaming! And we could do nothing but remain unmoving in our hiding places for fear of being heard and captured!"

Aleric was shocked and a little afraid at the venom in her voice.

"Am I as despicable as the rest of them?"

Elena looked at him, breathing heavily after her rant. As she regained her breath, the slight smile returned to her features.

"No. At least you admit to being an arsehole."

His lips mirrored her shallow curve, but he was obviously still a little wary.

"The purges were mass genocide. We lived in constant fear for the six months of the purge." Amelie put in. "I was only turned the year before the attack - I saw hardly anything of the fighting. They targeted the older vampires, the ones with the largest signs of porphyric hemophilia. Kill off a few of those and the ones with less experience will be terrified. It's easy to panic - and when you panic, you make mistakes. Which are often fatal. The purges will always be a sore subject, I fear. But you needn't worry. We aren't likely to turn on you because you had the misfortune to be stuck as a human."

Mind a little more at ease, Aleric gestured for Elrena to carry on with her tale.

"If you don't mind, that is." he added hastily.

A tad more soberly than before, Elrena started. "Esidhel - that was her name - was murdered in the decline of the purge. We stayed a little longer to ensure it was over, then moved on. We couldn't risk them returning to check if there were others at Blueblood.

Our next camp was Entius, to the north. We stayed there for eight, maybe nine years before moving on again. We never really stayed in a camp longer than that since the purge - there was too much risk of someone hearing rumours of us."

Elrena suddenly stopped, and gave a long sigh. Amelie gave her a concerned look.

"Are you alright?"

"Memories. There are many things I'd rather not remember at this moment in time. I have had far too many experiences with the Order."

Amelie nodded sympathetically.

"You really should rest. It's obviously been a long few days for the two of you."

As she heard the words, Elrena became aware of just how much her muscles ached, and she nodded.

"I'm going to go back to bed."

Amelie nodded, then pushed up off of the bed.

"Aleric? Are you going back to sleep?"

Aleric paused for a moment, considering.

"I may stay up a little longer."

"Fine."

"If we move over to my chamber, do you want to continue talking? You vampires are fascinating."

Amelie granted him a wry smile.

"I suppose I could deign to converse with a mortal for a little while."


	11. Betrayal

_A.N. Again, I'm so sorry for the enormous delay in getting this chapter up. I have been suffering under that common disease known as writersblockititis that has left my stories vulnerable to cliches - things which I am desperate to avoid at all costs. But I did promise one of my loyal reviewers that I'd have this chapter up if I had to stay up all night! So - at 02:17 in the morning, I give you: chapter eleven! I hope it's been worth the wait! ~ CM_

* * *

The figure stood completely still, each muscle completely unmoving. It was dressed entirely in some exotic material - like chiffon, but opaque, and intricately embroidered with golden thread - that disguised its true stature under waves of billowing clothing. A light breeze suddenly swept along the path, causing a few wisps of hair to peek out from beneath its hood, startlingly ginger and curled into ringlets.

"Redhead." murmured Aminus. "Always so hot blooded. De-lic-ious." He ran his tongue along his lips in anticipation.

Elrena cast him a wry glance.

"It's not just their blood you like, from what I've heard."

The Imperial gave her a half smile, one eyebrow raised.

"I quite like blue hair too, if you find yourself wanting company."

She rolled her eyes and turned back to watching the stranger. Over the past few days she had become used to Aminus' incessant flirting. He didn't seem to care who they were - if they were in possession of a female body, he was there. Indeed, more often than not, even those without a female body he attended to with great vigour. There were few who he chose to ignore: Skjaer, with whom he shared a mutual hatred; Veresi, who took it as a great affront to her authority and responded with such violence the first time that he made no further attempts; and Resaran, for whom such impudence would earn a mutilation at the very least and was therefore not worth the attempt.

"Quiet." hissed Veresi from somewhere further down the line. Aminus glared at her for a moment, then resumed watching the figure.

"Why don't we just attack?" asked Skjaer after a minute or so, who lay on Elrena's other side. "She's just stood there."

"Because, imbecile, she's probably waiting for someone. And two is better than one, although I suppose your education didn't cover counting." snapped Aminus.

"That's another person to struggle with though. Why don't we just kill this one and deal with the other one when they come along?"

"Oh yes, let's just leave a blood-drained body in the middle of the road. That won't scare the other one off." said Aminus sarcastically.

"We could move it."

Veresi gave a low snarl as Skjaer's voice rose above a whisper.

"I said quiet! Do you want it to hear us?" The others shifted uncomfortably as Veresi continued: "I told Resaran he'd be a fool to put you two together on a hunting trip. Your constant bickering makes you incompetent! And bringing the mortal along is downright stupid-"

"I wouldn't insult Resaran, if I were you." Elrena interrupted quietly.

"You've been gone for years, what would you know of how far I can go?"

"Please don't argue, you two." Amelie put in placidly. "Aleric is accompanying us because Resaran wants to show him how powerful he could be if he'd accept our offer." Here she stopped to smile at Aleric. "If you become one of us, think how much more enriched your life would be." Then she turned back to Elrena and Veresi. "You surely cannot object to having more company? You wouldn't deny anyone this wonderful gift of ours?"

Elrena and Veresi both narrowed their eyes at her, but Amelie's eyes were fixed steadfastly on the static person before them. There was a silence for the next few minutes, until Aminus' whining voice returned.

"We've been waiting for hours now. I can practically taste their pulse. Maybe if we just-"

"Lose any chance we have of getting more blood? Don't be ridiculous. If we wait long enough, there could be enough for one each. The mortals normally travel in groups of four or five."

Again, Amelie's reply was met with silence. And then-

"Do you hear that?" Skjaer said excitedly. "Hoofbeats."

Six pairs of ears strained to hear the sound. It gradually came closer and closer, until three horses appeared around the corner. Their riders were dressed in the same material as the other figure and it billowed around them as they rode. As they approached the figure, the horses slowed to a canter, then to a trot, and to a walk before halting entirely. They dismounted, and stood beside the original figure.

"Excellent." murmured Veresi. "Positions, everyone. On my signal."

Almost silently, the vampires parted and made their way into a wide arc. Aleric remained where he was, concealed by the thick vegetation around him. There was a pause as they all checked the others were in place, then Veresi shot a hand into the air with the snarl of a hungry predator. Immediately the vampires closed off the arc, springing into a circle that encased the mortals.

But something was wrong.

Instead of looking scared or surprised, the mortals had formed their own outward facing circle. Then, deliberately, the original figure removed its robes. Beneath them there was a tall woman, curly hair bound back loosely with a few stray curls at the edge of her face - if it was indeed a face. It was hard to tell, beneath the scars that covered every square inch. The corner of her mouth was pulled upwards by a vicious looking cut that spread from her earlobe down to her lips. A sizeable chunk had been ripped from her ear, and the flesh between her nostrils was torn.

"'Ello bloodsuckers." she said, voice heavy with an accent as unplaceable as the fabric that lay on the ground, then addressed her companions. "Well? Ent 'ey pretty?"

There were mutters of sarcastic agreement from the other figures, who had also dropped their concealing robes. Beneath the cloth they were clad in heavy looking armour with brutal looking weapons across their backs.

"We kill them now?" asked one of them.

"First we 'stablish which is the 'uman."

"He's not here."

"T'informant said 'e would be. The deal was we don't kill 'im."

Throughout this exchange, the vampires had dissolved into confusion. Veresi tried to give the order to attack, but the others had stopped paying attention to her and were instead watching the mortals with curiosity. Skjaer and Aminus both looked suspicious; Amelie looked worried; Veresi looked angry that she was being ignored; and Elrena's expression was interested.

In an obvious attempt to resume control through intimidation, Veresi gave an angry snarl and revealed her fangs

"Be silent, bloodsucker." replied one of the mortals, almost lazily. "If you're good I might kill you quickly."

Veresi snarled again in indignation and leapt forward to attack. Recovering their senses, the others followed suit, but only Aminus managed to scratch his target as they had quickly ducked behind their attackers and reversed the circles. Only the one Aminus had attacked was in any way hurt - the gap between his cuirass and gauntlets revealed a patch of skin, now marred with a bloody gash.

"Vampire hunters." hissed Amelie, fangs distorting her speech a little.

Veresi's eyes were wide - a cut trickled blood down from her elbow to her wrist. It was little more than a scratch, but she seemed amazed that anything - much less a _mortal_- had managed to slip through her defences.

"We've been betrayed." she muttered. "One of you is a _traitor_." With the last word, she sprang forward once more, this time to dive between the vampire hunters - one of whom made a hefty swing at her with an enormous battleaxe - and stood around ten metres away.

Elrena also darted forward, but feinted to the left first, and took out an unsuspecting hunter's legs from beneath him before rolling neatly and standing parallel to Veresi.

In the chaos that ensued, Elrena lost track of exactly what happened. At some point four additional horsemen - reinforcements - arrived, and at another Aleric ran down to try and help the vampires. Somehow Skjaer gained an enormous cut along his cheekbone, but between them the vampires and Aleric managed to bring down four of their eight opponents before being overwhelmed and fleeing back in the direction they had come.

When they had lost their pursuers, Veresi turned on the others with fury filled eyes.

"Which of you is it? Which one of you must we kill? Confess now and perhaps I will not torture you for too long! Answer me!"

She turned on Elrena, the expression on her face almost insane with anger.

"It was you, wasn't it? You were so jealous that you were no longer Resaran's _whore_that you decided to kill me to reclaim your position!"

"Don't be a fool Veresi!" retorted Elrena with equal anger. "What do I care for who he sleeps with? Why would I betray the coven? I am one of you!"

"The mortals said their _informant_wanted the Breton alive. No one else gives a damn about him!" Veresi moved as if to attack Elrena, but the other woman dodged her. Elrena's face had frozen for an instant, then suddenly she turned with a snarl towards Amelie.

"It was you! You stayed up last night with him, plotting to betray us and elope! You're in some sort of sick relationship! The vampire and the mortal, star crossed lovers like those in the books you're obsessed with!"

The others all turned to stare at Amelie. They had all seen the soppy romances Amelie kept in her chamber, the ones she referenced and quoted at every opportunity. But Amelie's face was screwed up in disgust.

"How could you accuse me? I would rather die than consort with a mortal!"

"Liar!" snarled Elrena viciously. "I heard your conversation! I heard when it ended - and I heard everything afterwards too! More than anyone would want to hear!"

Amelie's face went white.

"There was nothing afterwards." she said, but it came out flat with shock.

Through this, Aleric's face had grown more and more confused.

"We finished and she left. Nothing more!" he objected. "If you're implying what I think you're implying-"

"She is definitely implying that." replied Veresi coldly. She suddenly was looking very strangely at Amelie. "I would have thought better of you. You're nothing more than a mortal loving, treacherous whore."

"But…there was nothing…" Amelie protested weakly, slowly backing away from them.

"You _were_ down there for a long time." Skjaer responded. His eyes were angry, but beneath them there was some element of sadness. "Huh. And I thought you were trustworthy."

"I never…I wouldn't…" whispered Amelie, face fearful as the others advanced. She was spared their revenge, however, as suddenly as the vampire hunters plunged into sight. With the low thrum of a powerful bow, a steel arrow sliced through the air and into the Breton's chest. She cried out in pain and surprise, but the others hardly noticed as they resumed fighting their own battles.

Somewhere amidst the confusion, Elrena caught Aleric's eye. She jerked her head to their right, into the trees and he nodded. Together they fled the scene, only pausing when they were about a hundred metres away. A vampire hunter had followed them, but in isolation he was easily dealt with.

Aleric looked troubled.

"I can't believe Amelie would have…how could she…I'm so confused."

Elrena looked grim.

"It wasn't Amelie."

"Then…who?"

Elrena raised an eyebrow, but for once it was not in a condescending way - it was an answer.

"You…but…"

All of a sudden Aleric was angry.

"Then you killed her! You!"

"It was the vampire hunters."

"Who wouldn't have been there if not for you!"

"Do you not understand? We would have been stuck there forever if I hadn't!"

"What is so bad about that?"

Elrena's eyes darkened.

"That coven…there are things you don't want to know."

"Tell me!"

"No."

"Goddamnit, tell me!"

Expression pained, Elrena leaned against a tree.

"The coven isn't a good place. It corrupts people."

Aleric just stared at her.

"There is a reason Veresi called me Resaran's whore." She swallowed, uncomfortable with the subject. "I never wanted to, not at first – understand that. But he is persuasive, Aleric. And power is an attractive thing. It was being handed to me on a silver platter – and what was the cost? My body for one night, maybe two a week."

Before his eyes, Elrena seemed to change. Her eyes were cold, her face proud. And when she spoke, her voice was tinged with an arrogance that made Aleric think instantly of Veresi.

"You cannot fathom how much power I held. I was his second in command: his ear was unquestionably mine. None would dare to disobey me for I had our combined strength to beat them down." She paused and something of her old self returned. She curled in on herself, made self-conscious by her outburst. "They are all ruthless killers, Aleric. When you stay with them your conscience dies. Power and death – those are the only things that matter. Even Veresi had a heart before Resaran withered it. All of us did."

Through her story, Aleric had been watching her with disgust.

"Amelie is dead because you were a cold, power hungry slut."

Elrena's eyes had been sad - guilty - before, but now they blazed.

"She's dead because I wanted to save you from being like them. You would be either dead - or worse - if I hadn't! Besides, why do you care about her?"

Aleric raised his chin, but the dignity in the movement was ruined as salty tear trickled from one eye.

"Why do you think?" he asked, voice breaking slightly on the last word.

Elrena's mouth opened and closed in surprise, then opened again.

"That's ridiculous. She would _never_have felt the same way. You heard her. You're a mortal. You're _dirt_. She'd rather die."

"She did die. Because of _you_."

Without another word, he turned and ran back. Before she had time to stop him, he was yelling to the others in a voice punctuated with choking sobs of fury and misery.

"It was her! She confessed! Elrena Oreyn betrayed you!"

Elrena gasped, but had no time to stop and wallow in regret. She cursed the weakness of mortals, then turned in the other direction and ran.

She was running for her life.


	12. Run & Hide

_A.N. Again, I am massively sorry for the big gap between updates. There was one scary moment where I thought I'd accidentally deleted the entire story (thank god I saved a backup copy!) and I've been minorly petrified of opening it again in case I deleted it. Enjoy!_

* * *

It was night before Elrena stopped running. Her lungs ached, and the blood high from the trio of humans she had drained several hours before had already worn out. The moonlight barely trickled through the canopy of leaves above her, and the sharp twigs of the forest had torn the skin of her arms. It would be foolish to blunder through the trees with such a low level of light - she may as well pave a path for her pursuers. If they were still following her, that is.

_Damn that idiot Breton! _Elrena cursed silently. _Damn him and his pathetic, human emotions to Oblivion!_

It was baffling how anyone like him could have been so hopelessly vulnerable to his urges. He was a murderer! A thief! A criminal! His heart was a rock, buried in the icy bed of his body - if it was there at all. So how could anyone - a vampire, no less! - have managed to worm their way in there?

And yet her heart was not as impenetrable as she thought either: she had decided against killing him because he was her friend. A _friend. _"A useless sentimentality, I find." Resaran had said.

How right he had been.

But no - they were worse than useless. Friends got you into trouble: _friends _betrayed you. They crept up on your in the night and stabbed you in the night with your own blade. Things had been so much easier when the only person she gave a damn about was herself. Why had she allowed herself to weaken? What had possessed her to make her change her plan? It was hard to decide who had been more of an idiot - herself or Aleric.

Elrena shook her head roughly. It would do no good to dwell on it. Anger would make her careless, and that was one thing she couldn't afford to be.

To distract herself, she set to work building a shelter. The work was hard, and she threw herself into it, allowing the physical nature of it to consume her mind and keep out her thoughts. She was careful to disguise it carefully, aware that if it appeared manmade it could cost her her life.

Eventually it was concealed enough to satisfy her, and with a weary sigh, Elrena heaved herself under it. Every muscle had been begging for rest, but now that they got their wish the aches turned to cramps. With a soft groan of pain, she tried to distribute her weight onto those areas, but in the confined space of the shelter it was too difficult. She resolved instead to try and ignore it - though that was almost more difficult than building the shelter had been.

In ignoring the cramps, her mind focused on another pain. Her injured calf had begun to sting, and she could feel that a little blood had leaked from the wound. Before it had been easy to believe months had passed since it had been shot by that bandit. Had it really only been a fortnight?

Knowing she wouldn't sleep until she had reassured herself it was fine, she forced herself to bend her leg closer and rolled up the rough hunting trousers she had on, wincing as they stuck slightly to the injury.

Fortunately it wasn't as bad as it had been when it was made. The wound was still a brutal gash, but now she had bathed and eaten it did not flip her stomach as it had before, and the scab that had formed there was still mostly in place.

It wouldn't need to be bandaged again - it needed air or it would start to smell, most likely. A small stream of blood trickled out of where the scab had cracked, but once her pulse had stopped racing from the exercise it would clot of it's own accord. She hoped.

Reassured, she lay flat again. The cramps had subsided, and despite her best efforts, Aleric soon returned to her thoughts. How easily he had betrayed her, someone he'd known for years, for a woman he'd known for one - one! - week. He'd seen Amelie's repulsion at the idea of a relationship with a mortal, he knew there was no chance in Oblivion that they would ever be together.

Regardless of how much she'd tried to pretend that the Breton meant nothing to her, she couldn't help but feel hurt on a more personal level. It didn't extend to romance - she hadn't completely lost her mind - but they had known each other for years. Loathe as she was to admit it, they were close. His macabre sense of humour had helped to relieve the seemingly endless hours of boredom during their imprisonment, and in turn she had told him everything she knew about the plants of Morrowind and Cydrodiil. At first she had been amused by his obsession with alchemy - and moreover, the concoction of poisons - but as time passed she came to appreciate the use of plants; admittedly they were great aids in crime. You could send a man into an almost comatose state while you ransacked his home. A slow working poison with the symptoms of an illness could murder someone as efficiently as any blade, with a fraction of the suspicion. They were perfect for covering up all kinds of felonies.

Aleric had soaked up the knowledge like a sponge, pressing her for every detail she could think of. As he explained, there were many plants with similar appearances but very different effects. Some had a more distinctive taste - one that could alert a potential victim to the attempt on his or her life - others could have the opposite effect. With that in mind, she always searched the corners of her mind for anything of use - from where it grew to the shape of it's leaves and the scent of it's blossoms.

Elrena frowned at the memories. A headache had begun to form in its usual place - the spot directly above her left eyebrow - as it always did when she began to think of things she would rather forget.

In a way that was fast becoming familiar, her thoughts were dragged back to more recent events. She refused to let herself feel sad - sorrow was weakness, sorrow dragged you down. Anger was much more constructive, much more useful. She could afford to relax a little, allow herself to explore the extent of her anger.

_That bastard. After everything I did for him, after everything I taught him, damn it! Typical Breton: ruled with his balls not his brain. I should have seen it coming, should've expected it from a lily-livered hare-brained oaf like him. How could he betray me so easily? He had always been such good company…  
__No. No, Elrena. He was not good company. Never has been, never will be. He was nothing more than a coward and a fool, in the end. And fools never make for good friends. They make for paranoia and suspicion, they make for pain and anger. Useless, useless, useless._

Mentally she berated herself, telling herself over and over not to feel the slightest bit of compassion for him, nor for herself. Tortures ran through her mind - the things she would do to him if he ever had the misfortune to stumble across her path ever again. She would do things worthy of an instant death sentence, things that would make the Dark Brotherhood tremble in their padded leather boots. She would be notorious for the ruthlessness and cruelty with which she executed the torments on those who crossed her. Grown men would wake screaming from nightmares of her face, snarling down at them with her instruments of choice clenched in her fists.

Slowly she expelled her anger this way until it was spent and she could allow herself the sweet relief of a deep sleep.


	13. A Deal

The sun had just begun to rise when Elrena woke, hitting her head on the roof of the shelter as she sat up. Grimacing, she crawled out from beneath it, cursing beneath her breath as her hand landed straight in a puddle of mud. Evidently it had rained overnight - a fact that was confirmed by the sudden realisation that her feet, in their rough leather boots, were soaking. Her shelter had leaked. Fantastic.

She pushed herself to her feet, shaking the worst of the mud off of her hand, then scraping off the remains on a tree trunk. Her only consolation was that it was mud and nothing worse - although, she admitted, the scent of animal dung would be useful should the coven try to find her through her scent. She had heard of animals trained to such high standards that they could find one person in a thousand by their scent, and should the coven find themselves in possession of such a creature she dreaded to think what would become of her.

Submerged in such horrific visions of being ripped apart by hounds and vampires alike, it was with extreme shock that Elrena noticed the figure to her left.

They were an imposing figure, at least six feet tall and shrouded in a strange mottled cloak that had allowed them to blend with the rest of the forest. Added to the thoughts Elrena had just been having, the figure seemed the very essence of all things suspicious - and malevolent.

"Who are you?" demanded Elrena, raising herself onto the balls of feet in preparation to run or fight, should the figure lower their hood and reveal themselves openly to be an enemy.

"No one you need concern yourself with." came the response. Despite her best efforts, Elrena could not decide which gender or race the voice was - it was masked with a curious accent that was thick and exotic, yet utterly unplaceable. There was something in the subtle way she rolled her Rs and the way every word was enunciated as if it was the most important that suggested she was not Cyrodiilic.

"A cryptic and entirely useless answer." Elrena said coldly, subtly checking that she still had a dagger at her waist - for all the good it would do against this giant of a person. She was, after all, alone and barely awake. "Lower your hood."

"Give me a reason to."

Elrena loosed her dagger.

"If you do not immediately prove that you are not an enemy, you will find this blade has lodged itself in your head."

The figure chuckled.

"How rash you become when you feel threatened, Dunmer. You have enemies, then?"

"Lower your hood!" This time she shouted it and stepped forward threateningly, pulling the dagger from its sheath.

"I should attack you purely for your threatening tone. You may prove to be just as dangerous to me as you fear I am to you."

Nevertheless, a pair of hands in leather gloves emerged from the long sleeves of the robe, and lowered the hood with a mocking slowness.

"Well? Will you still kill me? Or will you replace your weapon in its sheath and allow me to continue with my business?"

Elrena stared - she couldn't help it. At first glance, the stranger looked like a normal person. It was a woman with skin almost as dark as the ebony coloured hair that fell from her head in enormous curls. Every feature was oversized - her lips stretched across her face, her nose was long and broad at the tip, and her eyes were enormous beneath their frames of dark lashes.

But as Elrena looked for longer she noticed that through the thick mane of hair there emerged the tips of pointed ears, covered in delicate black fur and feline in appearance. And her eyes were not light green, as they appeared at first, but were far closer in colour to yellow with only the slightest flecks of green. Most surprisingly, when the woman spoke her teeth were pointed, though she was clearly not a vampire.

"Are you done goggling?" asked the woman eventually. "Or must you continue to stare?"

Elrena started in surprise, barely aware of how long she had been looking. With inquisitive caution, she took another step forward.

"What are you?"

"It's a good job I don't care for manners, isn't it?" said the woman wearily. "But your hostility is beginning to annoy me. If I was going to attack you, I wouldn't bother lowering my hood - something which I did at your request, not at any particular desire of my own. Maybe my perception of the world is a little twisted, but I was under the impression that enemies did not tend to hesitate and comply with their victim's wishes. They just do as they please and attack at will."

Elrena shifted in her place.

"I apologise."

"Without the slightest hint of sincerity, but never mind. Judging by your expression, suspicion is wise for you at present."

"That's an understatement."

"I thought it might be. But enough of meaningless chatter. I did not chance upon you - I came here for a reason."

Elrena narrowed her eyes.

"Why? Have you need of me?"

"In a way, yes. And no. But more than that, it is you who has need of me."

"Why should I need the aid of a stranger?"

"I don't know. But you are clearly not going to last a week on your own. How do you intend to feed yourself?"

"We are in a forest. Surprising as it may seem, animals and plants tend to be abundant in woodland." Elrena said sarcastically, sweeping a hand about their surroundings.

"And the large majority of those plants are highly poisonous and likely to kill you the moment they pass through your lips."

"I am not going to eat random plants - credit me with more sense than that!"

"Why should I? Given the hostility you've shown me, a stranger obviously of superior strength to you, I think you've shown yourself a hot-headed fool. I could have a thousand weapons beneath this robe yet you continue to antagonise me. This is my home Dunmer!" continued the woman, her voice rising. "If you will blindly blunder into it with no plans for your survival, don't mock those who know it better than you if they offer you help!"

"There's no need to get territorial. If you had the sense you say I lack, you wouldn't antagonise me either. It's dangerous to underestimate me, mongrel." Elrena retorted, her voice also rising in anger.

"I may be a mongrel by the primitive standards of you sheltered city dwellers, but with the blood of many races comes their strengths. I have the power of four different races through years of union past the narrow confines of your kind. Inbreeds, all of you! No wonder at your weedy frames and sickly health when you mate with your cousins!"

"Our blood is purer than yours. We do not mix with our inferiors!"

"And as such you will die out long before my kind does."

"We need not stoop to your level to survive. We are stronger than that."

"Your physical strength doesn't reflect that."

Elrena narrowed her eyes, and gave a mocking laugh.

"How much of an idiot must you be to value only the strength of your body? What about intelligence and cunning? Your willpower, your magic? If someone is clever enough their strength doesn't matter. Craft will always overpower brute force."

"Then how do Orcs survive? Thick headed but with strength to match a bear's, yet they still survive?"

"And are despised by every other race in the Empire."

"That does not change the fact that there are still many of them."

Now the woman tilted her head on one side, and something in the way her expression changed stopped Elrena from saying another word.

"Tell me, Dunmer, are you always so hypocritical? Are not vampires despised by every non diseased being in Tamriel?" At seeing Elrena's eyebrows raise, the woman smiled. "Oh yes, I know. When did you last feed? It's wearing off. Your eyes. Your skin. Soon you'll need somewhere to hide from the sun."

At that, Elrena stopped arguing. The trees blocked much of the light, but there was still enough to cause her a great deal of pain.

"Oh, that's humbled you." the woman said, smiling. "Lucky for you then, that despite your hostility, I have decided not to retract my offer of help. I will make a deal with you."

Elrena chewed her cheek. She hadn't thought about how she would avoid the sun, and somehow she expected it would be more difficult to keep a low profile if she had to keep feeding on people. All of the going in and out of towns would leave a very easily traced trail, straight to her.

"What is it?"

"It's quite simple. I have a cottage no more than a half hour walk from this very spot. It is not luxurious by any means, but it is not uncomfortable. And it will do to hide you from the sun during daylight hours. I will offer you lodgings, in return for your help."

"What is it you want from me?"

Here the woman paused.

"Knowledge, mostly. I want to know everything you know of the darker mysteries in Tamriel."

Seeing Elrena's confused face, the stranger added by way of explanation: "Those things which most folk fear, yet know little about. Vampires, such as yourself. The daedra. The Shivering Isles. Oblivion. I understand that one such as yourself will have a thorough knowledge of such things. Do you?"

Elrena hesitated for a moment before answering, but nodded. "Yes. I do."

"Then we have ourselves a deal."

The stranger extended a hand to shake, and Elrena put her hand in the gloved one. The woman's handshake was firm, and it was obvious that there was enough strength in her arm to crush Elrena's hand, should she so wish.

"Come then, Dunmer. My home is this way."


	14. Inenna

A wooden building with a moss covered roof was the sight that greeted Elrena as she followed the stranger through the woods and into a clearing. Ivy trailed up the walls, and a small well had been dug to the right of the door. A large vegetable patch grew on the other side, surrounded by a low brick wall and covered over with a net. A long rectangle of ground had also been separated by low walls, and it was divided into four sections, each of which was filled with some kind of herb. The remaining ground was a carpet of herbs and flowers, and just peeking out from behind the house Elrena could see some sort of fruit tree - either pear, or apple; Elrena couldn't quite tell from where she was.

"It's an apple tree." said the stranger, and Elrena realised she had been squinting at it.

Elrena turned to face her, smiling almost nervously.

"This is your home then?"

The stranger nodded, and walked towards the house. Elrena glanced behind her, at the forest they had come from. A low wooden fence lay behind them, and the stranger told her that it went all the way around the house, hidden in the trees.

"It keeps out the animals." she explained, then added with a laugh: "Although if a wild boar was particularly desperate to get through, it wouldn't hold it back for long!"

Elrena didn't laugh.

"What do you do if one does try to get through?" she asked.

"I've never had it happen yet, thankfully." replied the woman. "But if it ever does, shoot it, I suppose."

"And larger animals? Bears, mountain lions?"

"You are very pessimistic, do you know that?" was her only response.

Elrena shook herself back to the present. The woman was at the door to her house, looking back questioningly at Elrena, who hurried over.

"Are you always so distractible?" she asked good naturedly.

"Sorry." Elrena replied. "The last few days have been very eventful. I'm not feeling myself recently."

"That's understandable enough."

Lifting the latch, the stranger pushed open the door and it opened without the slightest creak.

"I have to keep the hinges perfectly oiled," the woman said, "or the creak scares away any nearby game."

"Where do you get the oil from?"

"I use the grease left over from cooking."

The room they entered was a fairly large one, at least six metres in width, and perhaps a little more in length. The remains of a fire smouldered in the centre of the room, their place marked by a ring of stones. A kettle was hooked above it, blackened from the smoke. In the corner furthest from the fire there was a bed, made on top of several large sacks, each filled with what was presumably hay. Where the rough woollen blanket had been pushed aside, the indentation made by her sleeping body was obvious. At its foot there was a small chest, and on top of that there rested a pair of sturdy leather boots.

In the opposite corner, pushed against the wall, there was a roughly made wooden table, and a three-legged stool. The table was set with a pewter bowl, and a spoon was propped against it. A thin layer of what appeared to be porridge still coated the bottom of the bowl. A second door was built into the wall on the opposite side.

Elrena's nose wrinkled slightly as she stepped fully inside the room: everything stank of smoke. The gesture did not go unnoticed.

"You'll get used to the smell after a while." said the woman with a smile, "It's very difficult to build a chimney without the entire roof falling down about you, so I tend to just leave the door open in the warmer weather to air the house a little. There are only two windows, both of which are in the other room where I have a larger fire. That's the one I use for cooking."

"Why don't you use this one?" asked Elrena as she slowly walked around the room.

"This fire is not hot enough. If I were to make it as hot as I require for cooking properly, it would spit sparks at my possessions and most likely burn the entire house down. This one is small enough that any sparks fall within the circle of stones, so I keep things away from there. It's much easier to have it in an isolated room."

Elrena nodded - clearly the house had been built very specifically.

Seemingly reading her thoughts, the woman gestured around the house and said "Everything here has a purpose. There is nothing that is merely for show, nothing wasteful. When you live alone and isolated as I do, everything must be functional to make survival as easy as possible - though in the coldest days of winter, it is far from easy."

She turned to Elrena.

"It is fortunate that I found you so early in the day - I was worried you would have moved on to another part of the forest by the time I got there and I would have to spend all day on your trail."

"How did you know I was here?"

The woman smiled.

"When you have lived in this forest as long as I have, the slightest change will seem as large as an earthquake. The animals all moved away from you during the night, and I saw a flock of birds you startled fly straight overhead. I found you as you made your camp."

Elrena narrowed her eyes.

"Why did you not approach me then and save me a lot of effort?"

"Because you looked like someone who had crawled from Oblivion itself! Your hair was dishevelled, your skin coated in dirt and spattered with what I'm quite certain is blood. And you looked like you were about to murder someone. Added to the fact that I eventually realised you were a vampire, I was hardly likely to try and talk to you."

"I was also injured, exhausted and hardly needed to exert myself in building an unnecessary shelter."

The woman shrugged.

"I wasn't going to endanger myself just in case a stranger was hurt. And I had intended just to check you weren't an immediate threat and then to leave you to your own devices. It was only this morning that I realised you might be of use to me."

"Evidently not only is your house functional, but so is the company you keep." Elrena observed.

The woman gave a short bark of laughter at Elrena's statement.

"As good a description as any!" she said cheerfully. "But come, we'd best set up your bed and then I'll show you around properly."

She promptly turned on her heel and continued outside and around the back of the house. The roof continued over the edge of the building creating a sort of porch, beneath which five or six hay bales were stacked. One top of them there lay several sacks. The woman undid the twine on one of the bales and reached for a sack, stuffing the hay into it. At her gesture, Elrena grabbed a sack and joined her.

"The trick to making a bed that won't give you serious aches in the morning is not to overstuff the bag." the woman explained as they worked. "Otherwise you'll feel like you were beaten by a gang of ogres in the night."

Elrena nodded, packing the hay down to the bottom of the sack. When they had both finished, they secured the ends and carried the sacks into the house again. Twenty minutes later, they had created something that looked very similar to the original bed. With a sweep of her hand, the woman smoothed a blanket over them as a cover, and placed another one on top.

"Don't sleep directly on the sacking or you'll wake up itchier than you've ever been in your life." advised the woman, "Sleep between the two blankets instead."

Elrena had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Clearly the woman thought she knew nothing of life outside of cities and vampire covens.

"Now, I'd best explain to you why the garden is arranged like that…" the woman said, standing up straight and walking towards the door. Elrena went to follow her, but as she straightened a sudden dizziness swept through her frame and she had to clutch at the wall for support. For a moment the world was black, and she had to blink several times to clear her vision. She became aware of an acute pain in her stomach, and realised that it had been over a day since she had last eaten or drank. Her head began to throb with the realisation, and her mouth was suddenly sucked of all moisture.

The woman was looking at her with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

"Forgive me…" muttered Elrena, "I haven't eaten in a while…"

"I didn't think vampires needed normal food."

"That's a myth invented by those who think vampires are magical beings who can fly and turn invisible on a whim."

The woman's eyes widened slightly. "Can you?"

"Not exactly. If you learn the right magic or are born at the right time it is possible to become invisible to the naked eye. But you needn't be a vampire to do so. And I've never heard of anyone flying."

"Oh." said the woman, sounding slightly disappointed. "Strange. So you do require food?"

Elrena nodded.

"It's true that most can go for longer than the average human, provided they have blood. It's possible to last over a week without even feeling hungry if they do. But I've become accustomed to eating regularly, as a mortal, and I haven't the blood supplies to last long without it."

The woman nodded her understanding.

"I tend to eat nothing until midday, and I prefer not to interrupt my schedule. However…you look dead on your feet." she moved from her place in the doorway leading outside, and instead went through the door that lead to where she said she cooked. She came back with a pot filled with some sort of stew. Over the fire there ran a pole and she hooked the pot onto it, dangling just above the flames.

"It's leftover from last night, but I doubt you'll mind. It will taste almost the same either way."

Elrena gave her a grateful smile and crouched beside the fire. When it was done, the woman unhooked the pot for her and tossed her a spoon. Elrena caught it one handed, and hungrily fell upon the stew. It burnt her tongue but she hardly cared, realising she was ravenous.

The woman watched her with amusement.

"You'd think you'd never eaten before in your life."

"I feel like I haven't." replied Elrena, swallowing hastily. "I don't suppose you've any ale?" she added as an afterthought.

"I tend to drink water. It's much more readily available."

Elrena waved a hand to signify that she would settle for anything, and the woman brought her a cup of water. Elrena gulped it down, then a second and a third.

"Are you done?" asked the woman when her spoon scraped the bottom of the pot and she stopped gulping down water.

"Yes. Thank you."

"You looked like you needed that."

"I did. I definitely did." replied Elrena, grinning and rubbing a hand across her stomach.

"Well, if you're not going to faint on me I may as well show you the garden." replied the woman, and lead the way outside.

"I water the plants every morning as soon as I wake, just as the sun rises, and just before I go to bed if the day has been very hot." she explained as they reached the vegetable patch. "If you ever see the net unhooked, put it back again or the birds will get to them. From now on you can water them in the mornings. If they need it done again I'll do it. I'll tell you when certain plants need harvesting.

"These herbs are all invasive," she continued, walking over to the section divided into four. "Garden mint, peppermint, lemon balm and comfrey. All important plants - and all will completely take over your garden if you don't contain them."

"The Imperials of the plant world." observed Elrena dryly, though the woman didn't seem to hear her.

"All the herbs on the ground can survive without much care. As long as you don't step on them when it's unnecessary, they'll manage by themselves. A remedy to almost any illness can be found in this garden, and when the game supply is low this is what we'll eat. This garden is the reason I've survived here for so long. Just be careful if you eat anything here - some of these plants are poisonous when incorrectly prepared." she warned.

Elrena gave no response, instead wondering how this woman who seemed so passionate about her plants had ever seemed like a threat to her. Seeing her so involved in explaining about all of the different herbs she possessed was so different to the aloof, dangerous stranger she had been in the forest. It reminded her disconcertingly of the way Aleric's entire being had changed whenever he managed to turn the subject to plants and alchemy - something he did irritatingly often.

With a stab of anger tinged with regret, she shoved the thought away from her. _Better to forget the bastard._ she thought coldly, cursing herself for allowing her thoughts to turn back to him.

As she grasped for something new to think about, it struck her that she still had no idea what her new companion was called. And in that uncanny way that she had, the woman seemed to have read her thoughts.

"It seems we've neglected to introduce ourselves properly." she said, turning away from the ground. "My name is Inenna."

"Elrena Oreyn." returned Elrena.

Inenna raised an eyebrow.

"No relation to Moden Oreyn?"

"Moden?"

"No…not Moden. Modren? Modryn! Modryn - that was his name." she shrugged apologetically. "Strangely, though I seem to have a near perfect memory for the names and properties of plants, the names of people flee from my memory faster than a vampire flees from fire."

Elrena stiffened. She could not help but feel threatened, knowing that the woman knew one of her greatest weaknesses.

"He is a nephew of mine." she said shortly.

"A nephew?"

"Great-great nephew." corrected Elrena. "Possibly more. I don't know exactly - I lost contact with my family many years ago."

"How old are you, exactly?"

"About one hundred and sixty two, maybe sixty three, or even four. You lose track of the years in prison."

Inenna's mouth froze itself into an expression of shock, and Elrena found herself chuckling at the way her mouth gaped open.

"I look good for my age, don't I?" she said with a smile.

"Oh…yes. Very." replied Inenna faintly, blinking.

Subconsciously, Elrena raised a hand to the wrinkles on her forehead. If it were not for the ease with which she moved and the upright way she carried herself, she could easily pass as a woman of fifty or sixty.

"So vampires do live longer than people?"

"Most people, yes. There are always exceptions, however."

"As with everything…" murmured Inenna, running a hand through her hair. Slowly the shock seemed to wear off, and she gave a physical shake, much like that of an animal caught in the rain.

"Right - I suppose I'd best show you what you'll be doing all day!" she said brightly. "As long as it doesn't hurt your back, old woman." she added, grinning.


	15. The Half Breed

The weeks passed uneventfully. Every morning Elrena would wake and begin the work Inenna had assigned to her. She rarely spoke to the other woman during the day, except when they stopped to eat. Most of their conversation took place in the evenings, when Elrena would fulfil her side of the deal and tell Inenna everything she knew of what Inenna called the "dark mysteries". She seemed particularly interested in the Shivering Isles, and bombarded Elrena with questions on everything from their rulers to the diet of the inhabitants.

"I have long been fascinated with the lands of Mania and Dementia." she said when Elrena asked her why she found them so interesting. "My sister…she entered the Shivering Isles. Or tried to, at least. I don't know what happened there, but it unhinged her. She's dead now. She refused to stray far from the door, never eating, never even sleeping. I don't know whether she slipped or jumped, but somehow she ended up in the water. She was too exhausted - or too weak, I don't know which - to swim back to the island and she drowned." Inenna shrugged. "We were never particularly close - we were only half sisters. She was always ashamed of me, when she still had her wits. She hated being associated with the _half-breed_." The bitterness in her tone was apparent as she spoke the last two words.

"Why are you…?" Elrena began to ask, trailing off at the last minute.

Inenna gave a bitter smile.

"Cross-species?"

Elrena nodded awkwardly, shifting in her seat and wishing she hadn't spoken.

"My father, a Redguard, met my mother whilst travelling to Chorrol from Elinhir in Hammerfell. He was the known town eccentric, and his family always tried to keep him out of sight for fear he would embarrass them irreparably. In the end he grew sick of it, I suppose, and ran away. He never told me much about it - I don't think he liked to think about it."

"It must be horrible for your entire family to be ashamed of you. I can see why he would keep quiet."

"Yes. He became very irritable if the subject turned in that direction and I quickly learned to avoid the topic. My mother didn't much like conversations about family either, probably because they disliked the idea of her marrying another race. They were quite a respectable family until then, and thought that she was bringing shame on the family."

Elrena gave a snort.

"Respectability is just a case of how much you can afford to pay people in exchange for their silence - and how much muscle you have to ensure they stay quiet."

"You sound fairly knowledgeable about such things!" said Inenna with a laugh, to which Elrena only gave a close-lipped smile.

"Is there anything else you'd like to ask me tonight?" asked the vampire, abruptly changing the subject.

Inenna's smile faltered.

"I haven't offended you, have I?" she asked.

Elrena shook her head.

"Not at all. Such words trigger memories I'd rather not confront, though."

"Of course." Inenna paused, trying to think of something to change the subject to. "How are you holding up?"

She didn't need to state exactly what Elrena was "holding up" on. For the past few weeks she had been dipping in and out of the deeper forest in search of bears, which she followed until they slept and then fed on.

"It's not my favourite activity." said Elrena "But I can cope."

"Does it have to be bears? They are scarce in these parts - but there are plenty of wolves about. Then you needn't spend so long out there."

"As a general rule, the larger the animal the better the blood. Although all animal blood tastes foul, and it lasts only for a day or two."

"If blood is anything like wine, it would taste better with age. Could you not store some to make it less repulsive?" Inenna asked thoughtfully.

"They may be the same colour, but wine is as much like blood as fire is like an orange. Leave blood to mature and it congeals and begins to smell like shit. Like it's gone rotten."

Inenna wrinkled her nose.

"Tasty." she said sarcastically, and Elrena's lips twitched into a smile on one side.

"Exactly." she said, then gave a dismissive shrug. "I don't mind hunting daily. I'm getting a feel for their habits now - where they go to drink, when they sleep. It takes less and less time to find them every day. And it's almost meditative - when you're hunting all you're aware of is the prey and the way your own body moves through the forest: awkwardly, or silently, or smoothly. The pulse of whatever it is you're stalking and the whisper of the leaves is all you hear."

Inenna nodded, and they lapsed into silence.

"Sometimes I wonder," Elrena began haltingly after a few minutes "what it would be like if I had never been infected. If I'd stayed as a normal Dunmer."

Inenna looked up.

"You'd be a lot more boring, to begin with." she said jokingly.

Elrena didn't smile. It was as if someone had taken a rope and dragged her somewhere deep inside her head, unaware of what was going on around her.

"Would I still be like I am? So cold, so untouchable. I could count on my fingers the number of people whose presence I actually enjoy, and count on one hand the number of those who I would speak to freely."

"I guess it must be difficult to get close to people when you're so constantly persecuted." added in Inenna thoughtfully.

Elrena nodded, although Inenna could tell she was barely aware that anyone had spoken. Her eyes had become bottomless, fixed in the vacant air.

"Would you ever consider being cured?" asked Inenna, uncomfortable with the way the other woman seemed to have curled up inside of herself.

Elrena turned to her slowly, mind returning to the hut.

"No…I don't think I would." she said softly. "I've spent too long like this. I don't know if I could live as a mortal any more. It's hard not to see them as prey after a while, you know?"

"No. I don't know." replied Inenna with a trace of ice in her voice. Noticing it, the Dunmer seemed to land fully back to where she was.

"Oh, I didn't mean…I didn't want to imply that you…I didn't mean you." she said apologetically.

Inenna brushed it off.

"Don't concern yourself." she replied. "If I really thought you viewed me as prey you'd be sleeping outside." She winked. "But just as a safety precaution, I'd like to inform you that my blood tastes worse than bear, and has an aftertaste much like that of garlic."

Elrena laughed.

"Mmm, garlic." she said sarcastically, curling up her legs beneath her to get more comfortable.

It was then that she saw it.

It wasn't much - if she hadn't twisted at that exact moment she would have missed it. But as she moved she spotted a flash of colour just behind the fence outside the window. She froze.

Green may have been the colour of trees and plants - but such a pure shade of it was nothing short of unnatural. And besides - trees didn't normally leap out of sight whenever there was movement inside.

Inenna noticed Elrena freeze.

"What's wrong?"

Elrena turned to her slowly, voice quiet.

"I think there's someone outside."

* * *

_A.N. Just a short chapter today, hope you enjoyed it anyway :) Now it's time for a bit of shameless self promotion - I have now officially joined FictionPress so if you're interested the link's on my profile :)_


	16. An Unwelcome Appearance

Face white, Elrena slipped off of her stool and crept over to the window, keeping low to the ground. Her lips instinctively curled back to show her pointed teeth, every inch of her body braced to attack.

With painstaking caution, she edged herself upwards until her eyes peered over the edge of the window. She could see nothing.

Moving silently, Elrena slipped towards the door. She hesitated momentarily before stepping outside into the cold evening, exposing herself to whatever predator lurked just out of sight.

Like a cat, she prowled forward, every muscle tensing, eyes straining for that elusive figure in green. They scanned constantly, sweeping the foliage ahead for any potential foe. It was only when she was five or six metres from the door of the hut that again she spotted that flash of green. Her head tilted to one side and she surveyed the area where it had appeared. Soon she saw who it was that she had spotted from her seat, and her entire face contorted with rage.

Eyes ablaze with fury, she rose from her crouched position, body uncoiling like a viper. With the deadly speed of a serpent, she leapt forward, fingers outstretched for his eyes. The intruder gasped and stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet and landing in a crumple on the floor.

"You!" spat Elrena, leaping to crouch on his chest, hands wrapping around his throat.

Aleric Bellamont's eyes were wide with fear.

"Please!" he wheezed through his constricted throat. "Don't…" he attempted to cough, but the air could barely rattle through his windpipe. Elrena's eyes narrowed, but her hands loosened and for a moment his face calmed. An instant later her teeth were at his neck in their place.

"No!" he screamed, and his efforts to push her off of him redoubled. The physical chores Inenna had assigned to her had strengthened Elrena's muscles however, and his strain went unrewarded. "Elrena…please." he mumbled, but he could already feel himself weakening. Pain stabbed through his neck as though someone were jabbing him with needles. His pleas seemed to stop the vampire's triumphant feed however, and she unlatched her fangs from his throat.

"Treacherous bastard!" she snarled, droplets of his own blood falling from her lips and landing on his face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Aleric said desperately, imploring her not to kill him. Despite his frantic attempts to free himself, however, something deep in his mind told him not to bother - her eyes showed the merciless lethality he had come to associate with a predator hell-bent on finishing off it's prey.

"Oreyn, please!" he tried again, his only response being another snarl. He felt it vibrate through her body. "I never meant to betray you, Oreyn, never!"

This had some effect on her. Her eyes widened for a split second, then narrowed even more dangerously.

"Never _meant_ to betray me?" she asked, voice soft yet pierced with steel. "You never _meant_ to betray me? Was it an accident then? Did you _accidentally_ tell a coven of ruthless vampires that it was I who had betrayed them? Did you?"

The last two words came out as a scream, and once more Aleric found himself splattered with his own blood but was too frightened to register it with anything other than a detached distaste.

"I was upset, you have to understand!" he implored. "I was out of my mind - I don't know what possessed me to do it! I barely escaped with my life either, you know! They thought I was in on it too! They were torturing me!"

"Oh poor you." spat Elrena sarcastically. "It's not like it was your fault!"

Her face had become so close to his that he had to turn his head sideways to avoid their noses touching.

"I was angry and upset, Oreyn, please!"

"Oh, Oreyn is it now? Glad to see we're not working on first name terms anymore, _Bellamont_. It might confuse you into thinking there could ever again be something other than enmity between us."

Aleric groaned softly. His chest had begun to ache where Elrena's long feet dug into it, and his throat throbbed painfully where she had bitten him. He gave a half-hearted attempt to roll her off but she barely swayed with the movement. A stream of blood was trickling from the gaping wound in his throat, the two pinpricks ripped open by the struggle, and though the flow was small, it was also steady and showed no signs of stopping.

Seeing the red liquid beginning to spatter the ground by Aleric's head, Elrena licked along the side of his neck again, lapping up the metallic-tasting substance with the air of one who has had only water for years and has finally tasted wine.

"I'll do anything…just…" Aleric pleaded, voice barely above a whisper. Suddenly talking seemed like the most strenuous activity in the world.

"What are you doing here, Bellamont?" she asked softly, not moving her head from its place by his neck.

"I…I wanted to apologise." replied the Breton, startled by this brief reprieve.

"Bullshit." snorted Elrena. "I know what you're like. You never apologise for anything." she paused, then pressed a hand against the wound in his neck. He gasped at the stinging pain of it.

"Don't lie to me." hissed Elrena, cold and angry once more. "Why are you here? Why didn't they end your pathetic mortal life once you'd told them what you knew?"

He wriggled in an attempt to release the pressure on his throat.

"I ran from them as soon as I realised what they intended to do with me…" he mumbled "I never realised how…_brutal_…they could be. They…" he raised a hand weakly, and she saw a vicious mark where once there was a finger. She saw the fear and disgust flicker behind his eyes.

_Good. _Elrena thought coldly. _Maybe the scare will have knocked some sense into him. _She couldn't decide whether to be repulsed or pleased at the vicious wound.

"I must've run for hours. I think I ran into marshland - the ground just disappeared beneath my feet, turning into slush as I ran! I nearly drowned! But…I think it deterred them a little. I gained a little time by going through the water - or mud, or whatever disgusting substance it was - and I think…I think if I hadn't, I'd be dead now. Mutilated. Drained."

Here he paused, and an involuntary shudder rippled through his body.

"That's one of my questions." said Elrena pitilessly "But you still haven't told me what you're doing here."

"I never meant to come here! I've been travelling for…I don't know how long. Months, probably. Flitting from forest to forest. I didn't dare go into the towns - and I'd rather go to Oblivion than seek shelter in a fort again! I was ecstatic to see a cottage. I'll admit…I thought I could strangle the occupant and live here in their place, hidden from the rest of the world."

"Well that plan backfired, didn't it?" Elrena remarked dryly.

He gave a nervous laugh by way of agreement, and Elrena snorted. A painful few minutes passed in which she examined his face, eyes boring into his. She ran a hand almost wistfully over the gashes on his neck. She seemed surprised when he winced, as if she had forgotten he actually had feelings.

"If you hadn't struggled so much, there'd be two neat marks, you know." she muttered. "Instead of one massive gash." She gave a one-shouldered shrug, murmured something and suddenly he felt the pain leave his throat. Instead it felt like some slimy sea creature was pulling it inwards and together.

Elrena surveyed her work for a moment, then pushed herself to her feet with one lithe movement. Seemingly amazed at her mercy, Aleric remained lying on the floor for a moment, before leaping to his feet as well.

"Thank you!" he gasped, face an almost comical mixture of joy and surprise.

"Don't think I've forgiven you." replied Elrena in an icy voice. "You acted like a half-wit and a fool. I don't like treachery, Bellamont."

"I know I acted like a moron." he admitted, head hung.

"No, you weren't a moron." Elrena snapped. "You were worse than that. There isn't a word for how much of an idiot you were. You have no idea how much I want to kill you."

He swallowed.

"But I won't." she continued, her eyes not leaving his. They were two blazing infernos, burning his face with the fierce intensity of her stare. "_Now leave._ Before I change my mind."

The Breton hesitated.

"I was…I was hoping…"

Her eyes widened for a moment.

"How dare you…" she hissed, striding forward threateningly. "You expected me to offer you shelter here, didn't you? Didn't you?"

"Please…no…Oreyn…I never meant to offend you, I just thought-" he burbled, backing away desperately.

"No, you didn't think! You never think! That's why you always end up so close to being murdered!" snarled Elrena. He found himself backed up against a tree trunk, and she stopped inches from him.

"You have no idea…no idea…the things I could do…" she hissed, seemingly attempting to restrain herself. Her hands hovered by her chest, hands curled into claws. They lurched forward as if to rip his heart out before she pulled them back, and it was almost as if the effort of pulling them back, away from his flesh, was more than she could manage.

It was only when a voice cut across both of theirs - hers a threatening, low snarl, his high-pitched and pleading - that the vampire found enough self control to pull herself away.

"Elrena!" came the call "Who is this?"

In shock, Aleric slipped down to land on his rear on the ground.

"A backstabber and a fool." replied Elrena angrily, stomping several paces from the Breton as if the very sight of him disgusted her.

"And what is he doing here?" asked the voice. Aleric searched around wildly for the source, only to find it shrouded in shadow, leaning in the doorway of the hut.

"He sought shelter."

"And have you given it to him?"

"What does it look like?" Elrena gestured roughly at him, crumpled on the ground with a white face, mouth agape.

The figure made a small sound like a grunt, then began across the ground towards him. He felt himself curl up instinctively - he had never seen anyone so tall move with such catlike grace. It was almost as terrifying as his attack by the furious vampire to his right had been - though where her onslaught had been full on and guileless, this prowling stranger exuded stealth and silence that was almost more intimidating.

"Will you kill him?" was the stranger's next question.

"It depends. What do you think, Inenna? Should I?"

Inenna examined him.

"How did he betray you?"

"He informed against me to my enemies."

"Is he still with them?"

"No. As soon as he told them what he knew, they tried to kill him."

Now two pairs of eyes were looking at him, running him up and down in an attempt to see what trickery he held.

"My enemy's enemy is my friend." murmured Inenna, and Aleric felt a slight twinge of something like hope. "Look at him. He's weak as a child. Send him away and he dies for certain."

Elrena hesitated now. The indecision was clear on her face.

"I don't trust him."

"Neither do I. But he may as well be a kitten for all the harm he can do us."

Still the Dunmer hesitated.

"If he stays for the night…he stays locked in the storeroom off the kitchen whenever unsupervised. He's a slippery character - he'd just as soon stick a knife in your back as he would help you."

Inenna's eyes narrowed at him.

"You can shelter here for one night. My companion does not seem to wish you dead, but neither does she hold any love for you - and I can see why she would not."

Aleric's eyes were wide and filled with gratitude.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" he cried, throwing himself at her feet.

Elrena's eyes were narrow slits in her face.

"Get inside." she snarled, half lifting him by one arm and pushing him roughly towards the door.

"You have no idea how grateful I am - thank you, thank you!" he continued burbling, almost crawling as he kissed at their clothes, bending to press his lips against their feet.

"Keep grovelling and I might just kill you myself." said Inenna coldly. Aleric took the cue to shut up, and followed her meekly inside.


	17. Carrots & Conversations

"Are you going to stop staring at me, or do I have to hit you?" snapped Elrena, turning around and glaring at Aleric.

"Sorry…" he muttered, hurriedly fixing his gaze on his feet. "I didn't mean to…" He shifted his feet, attempting to convey just how remorseful he was by body language alone.

Inenna chuckled, earning herself a glare from Elrena.

"It's not funny." she spat.

"Oh trust me, it is!" replied Inenna cheerfully "You two've been behaving like an old married couple all evening!"

Aleric gave her a small smile, his eyes flicking back to Elrena nervously. The movement was not lost on her and she met his gaze fiercely.

"I think I'd kill myself before marrying this fool." The vampire said coldly, turning her back on him again. Her severity had no effect on Inenna, however, who continued chuckling to herself.

Even without looking at him, Elrena could tell Aleric was exchanging grins with Inenna. She wheeled back around and had him pinned by his throat against a wall before he had a chance to realise what was happening.

"Listen, numb-skull!" she hissed, flicking him viciously under the chin with her free hand so that his head hit the wall with a thud. "I don't give a shit about whether you live or die. By betraying me you officially ended all sympathetic feelings I might ever have had towards you. I don't care if you get eaten alive by a horde of cannibalistic daedra worshippers, you hear me? In fact, if you don't shut your mouth and take that stupid expression off of your face, I might even throw you to them myself. Understand?"

Aleric nodded in shock, the blood leaving his face and turning him a sickly shade of white.

"Now, when I let you down again, I want you to crawl - yes, _crawl_ - into the kitchen and then into the storeroom. Then I'm going to lock you in, and you'd better shut your ugly little Breton face and go to sleep or I will rip your eyes out and leave you to bleed to death. Still with me?"

Dumbly, he nodded.

"Good." Abruptly, she dropped him. He immediately fell to his knees and set off towards the kitchen. Elrena's lip curled.

"Not on your knees. On your belly, like the worm you are."

A swift kick to his rear knocked him flat onto the ground, where he gasped for a moment in pain, clutching his buttocks.

"I'd recommend you move before I kick you again." Elrena said mercilessly, causing him to suddenly set off again, wriggling on the hard floor. She followed him into the storeroom, then slammed the door shut behind him, locking the door with a large iron key.

She gave Inenna a scathing glare as she re-entered the main room.

"You shouldn't encourage him. He's like water - just when you think you've got him in your hands, he slips through them again."

"What can he do? He's feeble as a child." replied Inenna levelly. "And let's be honest - as far as company goes, he's not the worst."

"_You_ hardly know him."

"I'm a good judge of character, as a general rule, and I can see that although his priority is himself, he's not an inherently malicious person."

"He does, however, possess a dangerous stupidity."

Inenna gave her a wan smile.

"Maybe so. He could prove to be useful to you though. I think you've instilled enough fear in him that he wouldn't dare betray you ever again for fear you'd skin him alive - and whatever relationship you had before, traces of it still remain for him. He may fear you, but he also respects you and that kind of loyalty is rare."

"Too rare." replied Elrena, her blunt tone of voice and monosyllabic response implying that further conversation would not be appreciated. Inenna took the hint, but gave Elrena a knowing look that seemed to grate straight on her nerves.

Resisting the temptation to throw a barbed comment about Inenna's sense in her direction, Elrena gave a large, fake yawn and walked to her sack-bed, settling herself on it gently - she had long since learned that to throw herself down in a moment of annoyance would only raise a cloud of dust and induce a helpless sneezing fit.

"I'm going to bed." she said unnecessarily. "'Night."

"Goodnight."

The Dunmer closed her eyes and inhaled the warm, earthy smell of the bed. Its familiarity soothed her, causing her anger to morph into a detached feeling of betrayal. Her last thought before falling into darkness was that perhaps Aleric was not so bad after all - he had acted like what he was: a frightened animal following its instincts. And that wasn't really so bad, was it?

* * *

This merciful thought had vanished by the time the sun rose, obliterated with the first rays of sunlight. Bad dreams had left her in a foul temper, and she was irritated to see that Inenna was already awake and had released Aleric from his temporary prison. She made her displeasure known by scowling viciously at both of them but Aleric seemed far more relaxed than he had the previous evening, merely smiling at her good naturedly before reaching down into a pot that rested at the foot of his stool and pulling out a carrot. He crunched it absent mindedly, staring at a random spot somewhere to her left.

"Why does this seem familiar?" muttered Elrena to herself. She went to the window, staring out into the garden.

"Where's Inenna?" she asked suddenly, realising that she was nowhere to be seen.

"Making me a bed." answered the Breton, his words interrupted by the crunching of the carrot in his mouth.

"And you're just sat here, letting her do it, because…?"

"Elrena! I've barely eaten in weeks, I haven't got the strength to be _hauling_ sacks of hay around." he said defensively.

"You're too lazy more like."

He grinned sheepishly. "Well, maybe a bit."

For a split second she forgot herself and grinned back at him. Almost instantly, however, her face resumed its angry expression.

"Would you _stop_ making that incessant crunching noise?" she snapped, determined to find something to be irritated by. She snatched the new carrot from his hands and snapped it viciously. The effect of the noise on Aleric was startling.

His body froze, face suddenly drained of all colour. His eyes were wide and unseeing, his lips slightly parted as if in shock. His hands, shaking, found each other and one wrapped itself around the stump where once there had been a finger. For the first time, she noticed that they looked disfigured, as if they had been broken not too long ago. A low moan escaped his lips, and he sat there, utterly still, for a minute or so.

Elrena stared at him in confusion.

"Bellamont?" she asked warily. Gingerly, she reached out a hand and shook his shoulder.

No response.

"Bellamont?"

All of a sudden he was back, looking shaken and breathing rapidly.

"Sorry…I…um…I…" he gasped, hands suddenly clutching the edge of his stool for stability.

Elrena opened her mouth to say something, then shut it again abruptly, deciding she didn't really want to know what had just happened.

"I'm going to go and help Inenna." she said decisively, trying to act as if nothing had happened. "Finish eating – and _don't_ move from that stool."

"Oh, don't worry…" replied Aleric, his thoughts obviously elsewhere. "I-I won't…I won't."


	18. Smoke

The first thing that struck Elrena as she entered the space behind the house was that the hay bales were untouched. The second was that Inenna was nowhere to be seen.

The third was that foliage leading into the forest was crushed as if something large and heavy had been dragged straight through it.

Something like a body.

Elrena felt her heart begin to thud rapidly in her chest. She should've known this would happen eventually. Veresi would never rest until she had her head on a plate. Inwardly, she cursed herself for having been such a fool.

_ This is your fault!_ her head was screaming. _You're poisonous! What happened to your rules? Never rest, never relax and never get attached. And you've broken all of them!_

That last thing was what she hated herself most for. She hated to admit it, but she had appreciated Inenna's company in a way she didn't most peoples'. _Who cares? She's just a half-breed. _she tried to tell herself, but that only seemed to anger her more. Even if they were not hated as unabashedly as vampires, those with the blood of two species were still shunned by most of Tamriel. It was only a small similarity, but it made her feel as though Inenna possessed an insight into Elrena's life that most people did not.

"Damnit!" Elrena growled at her own stupidity, but did not waste any more time stood out in the open. She slunk forwards into the forest, following the trail of destruction. Three or four metres in she found the remains of the fence that had surrounded Inenna's property, ripped apart to form a gap wide enough for three men to pass through.

Keeping in the shadow of the trees to the left of the path, Elrena crept forwards, ready to face whatever had crashed its way into the short period of peace she had enjoyed.

The trail wriggled northwards for a little over a mile. Elrena eventually realised it was headed towards a pond she had often seen whilst out hunting: it was a popular watering hole for animals and she often caught her prey there.

As she drew closer to the water, she realised that for once the forest around her was totally bereft of animal sounds. Taking extra caution to muffle her footsteps, she inched forwards to peer out from behind a tree at the pond.

There on the bank lay Inenna, utterly still.

Elrena felt an unfamiliar stab of pain in her chest for her friend. Her first instinct was to run to her, to see if she was really dead. This instinct, however, was immediately stifled by the sound of footsteps on dry leaves.

Elrena froze in place, concealed in the shadows as the despised form of Aminus Rienus stormed into view. His expression was dark and clouded, and as he passed the prone form of Inenna he aimed a kick at her. Automatically, Elrena's lip curled back in anger, teeth grinding together as Inenna's body rolled over and half into the water. She could barely stop herself from leaping out on him then and there.

_Wait._ she told herself sternly. _The opportunity will come. Just be patient._

Aminus paced back and forth in front of her, muttering angrily to himself and aiming kicks at various bits of stone and foliage. Elrena watched him intently for several minutes before, after what seemed like an age, he dropped to the ground with a loud huff of frustration.

Elrena couldn't wait any longer. She sprang out of the bushes and threw herself onto Aminus' unsuspecting back. He cried out in surprise, then snapped his teeth at her in an attempt to make her release her grip. She managed to dodge his bites, wrapping her fingers around his throat and flipping him onto his back. He writhed beneath her, clawing at her arms. She ignored the pain of his nails as they shredded her skin and placed a knee in the centre of his chest, shoving down hard enough to drive what breath remained out of his lungs.

His struggles grew gradually weaker and he stared up at Elrena with terrified eyes. His lips moved as he attempted to plead for life, yet Elrena remained cold and unmoved. After lying dormant for so long, her anger had only intensified. A burst of sadistic pleasure grew in her chest as his struggles ceased altogether and he simply stared at Elrena with helpless eyes. This was vengeance. This was control. This was power.

When his gaze became glazed, she removed her fingers from his throat and slowly stood. She surveyed his corpse emotionlessly for a moment before using a foot to roll him into the water.

Once his body was completely submerged, she turned her attention to Inenna. A large gash was ripped across her face: from her chin, across her lips and over to her left cheekbone. Blood from the wound smeared her face, matting into her coarse black hair. With unusual care, Elrena dipped the hem of her tunic into the water and began to wipe the blood from her friend's face.

Suddenly a hand shot up and gripped her forearm. Elrena yelped with shock, before realising that Inenna's eyes had snapped open. She stared, shocked, for a moment before a grin stretched, unbidden, across her face.

"You're alive!" she said disbelievingly.

Inenna grimaced in response, removing her hand from Elrena's arm and gingerly feeling her face. She went to sit up, then groaned and slumped back down, her other hand on the top of her head.

"The bastards caught me unaware. They must've knocked me out." she muttered, rubbing her forehead.

"You're lucky to be alive." Elrena replied. "Vampires don't usually take prisoners. Why he didn't just kill you?"

Inenna shrugged, propping herself up on her elbows with a wince.

"Maybe they wanted information?"

"Maybe…" Elrena thought for a moment, then jolted upright with a start. "Wait - what do you mean _they_? How many were there of them?" Her mind whirled. Surely the entire coven wouldn't have gone in a group unless they knew exactly where she was? Wouldn't it be more logical for them to split up?

Inenna bunched up her face in thought and winced as the movement cracked the slash on her face.

"Just two, I think. One with white hair and a Khajiit."

Elrena exhaled in relief. That just left the Khajiit - obviously that meant M'saka, unless another had joined their ranks since her escape.

"The question is, how did they find me?" she said, chewing her cheek. Suddenly her face darkened thunderously. "Bellamont." she hissed, leaping to her feet. "I'll kill him, the treacherous son of a-"

"No." interrupted Inenna, tugging on her arm to stop her from storming off. "They looked surprised to see me. It could not have been him or he would have told them about me too."

Elrena looked at her for a long moment, then her face relaxed.

"You're right." she replied. "Besides, he's so scared of them now he'd probably die of fright at the mere sight of them. No…not him."

They sat together in silence, both absorbed in thought. Eventually, Inenna pushed herself to her feet. She stood unsteadily, then turned, blinking to clear her vision. She swayed on the spot for a moment, before stepping back and gasping. Elrena whirled around to see what had shocked her friend but saw nothing.

"Look." Inenna whispered, raising a hand to point into the sky. Elrena raised her eyes to above the line of the trees and her eyebrows shot up. An enormous plume of thick black smoke rose from where Inenna's house stood.

For once, Inenna's face betrayed something like weakness. Her lips were moving, but no sound came out and her eyes followed the line of smoke coming from her house. Before Elrena realised what was happening, she had plunged into the trees and was sprinting towards her home.

"Inenna!" Elrena cried after her. "Are you crazy?"

Inenna did not slow down.

"I must be mad." muttered Elrena to herself before taking off after her.

Elrena darted around a tree and nearly crashed straight into Inenna. She leaned heavily against a tree, and stood before her was Aleric, white as a sheet and trembling in terror. He lurched towards Elrena when he saw her, clutching at her arms.

"It's them!" he whispered hoarsely. "I looked out the window and I saw them! It was the Khajiit - they've found us! They've found us!" he whimpered, face screwing up as a child's would. "We're dead, we're dead…" he moaned, burying his face in Elrena's shoulder.

Elrena's lip twisted in derision.

"Pull yourself together, for God's sake." she told him harshly, prising his fingers from her arms and pushing him away. His lip quivered in fear, fingers twitching over the stump of his lost finger. "Where is M'saka?"

"B-b-back there." Aleric stammered. "I s-saw her before she s-saw m-me and I ran away."

Elrena glanced at Inenna. Her face was now expressionless, but her gaze still twitched in the direction of her house.

"Will you come?" Elrena asked her.

Inenna looked back at her, emotionless, then nodded. Elrena gave her a half smile of gratitude.

"Be wary." she warned. "Bellamont! Follow us or stay here and starve to death. Your choice."

Aleric nodded, still jittery.

"I'll…I'll follow you."

"Come then."


	19. Old Friends

Even before it was in sight, the heat from the now blazing hut was almost enough to drive the trio back. Aleric, face still bereft of colour, stayed at the back. Every few seconds he would throw an anxious glance over his shoulder, certain that at any moment he would be leapt on.

Elrena noticed his nervous twitching with irritation but attempted to ignore him. _Keep focused._ she told herself, repeating it over and over again like a mantra.

In contrast, Inenna was silent beside her, jaw set and face grim. If she noticed Aleric's twitching, she made no sign of it.

Elrena held up a hand for them to halt. An orangey glow was beginning to creep between the leaves of the trees and bushes ahead. Keeping her body ducked low amongst the foliage, Elrena crept forwards and peered between the leaves, followed closely by Inenna.

The pyre was huge, puffing thick black smoke skywards in a billowing column. Through the flickers of fire, the company could just about see all that remained of Inenna's hut: a pile of blackened wood, scatters of ash.

Something like a growl vibrated in Inenna's throat, face twitching with anger at the loss of her home.

"I will kill whoever has done this." She swore.

Elrena glanced over her shoulder at her. "Have a care they do not kill you first."

Their eyes met, one pair blazing with intensity, another cold and restrained. Inenna broke contact first, turning back to look at her former house.

"There." she said quietly. "Someone moving on the other side of the fire."

Elrena's eyes strained to see past the flames. There! A tail poked out from behind the pile of rubble, then disappeared to be replaced by M'saka's leather-clad feet. She stepped into view, scanning the forest around her intensely and stopping to sniff every few seconds.

"She will smell us!" hissed Aleric, backing deeper into the trees.

"No." Inenna replied, voice tight with restrained anger. "The smoke will overwhelm our scent." Had she cared to drag her gaze from the house, it would have been apparent that her words had hardly pacified the Breton. He continued retreating, finally slumping against a tree with a moan of fear.

Inenna and Elrena were oblivious. They watched the Khajiit prowl around the bonfire where they had once slept, acutely aware of her every movement.

Elrena pursed her lips, then wriggled back in line with Inenna.

"I will go out there first. I don't know how much she knows about you and Bellamont back there - she will be careless if she thinks I'm alone." She bit her lip. "If she manages to overpower me, then you step in and help. Is that alright?"

Inenna nodded. "But…just before you kill her…" she said. "Stop. I want to be the one to do it; I will have my revenge."

Now it was Elrena's turn to nod.

"Is that everything?"

"Yes. Fight well."

M'saka's tail curled with satisfaction as she spotted Elrena making her way over to her and purred low in her throat as she advanced, stopping only when they were within speaking distance.

"M'saka." Elrena acknowledged, heart pounding. "What a surprise to see you here."

A mocking smile crept across M'saka's face.

"Elrena." she purred, "How good of you to come and find us. Saves M'saka a journey." She curled up her lip, threateningly showing off one wickedly pointed fang.

"Oh M'saka…" sighed Elrena, "How could I resist when I knew you were so near?" She looked slowly at her surroundings. "And where is our dear friend Aminus?"

"Busy sucking the life out of your little plaything, no doubt."

Elrena tilted her head to one side, then laughed long and slow. "Oh, my dearest M'saka. Your belief in the invincibility of your coven members is truly endearing." She gave a soft sigh. "But I fear it is sadly misplaced. Poor Aminus…"

M'saka froze, something Elrena noted with pleasure.

"Even the mightiest are humbled by death - he begged, before he died. It didn't take long: the moment he realised his fate he became as pathetic as a baby, mewing for me to spare him." Elrena cocked her head to the other side and gave M'saka a sadistic smile. "I wonder how long _you_ will take before you break and beg me for life."

M'saka's eyes lit up in anger, her body tensing.

"Aminus was weak and foolish. M'saka is not so stupid, M'saka is strong. But you, elf, you are weak like him."

Elrena refused to be riled, though her blood began to pound with the taunt.

"I will not be afraid of a cat."

M'saka hissed and snapped her teeth at Elrena, but earned only a chuckle.

"Well?" asked Elrena, grinning as she prepared herself for M'saka's attack.

M'saka flew through the air, pouncing like a cat upon a mouse. But Elrena was far from mouse-like - she met the attack with a vicious blow to M'saka's stomach. She yowled, twisting midair and landing on her feet, clutching at her stomach as she gasped to refill her emptied lungs.

Elrena took advantage of the moment, grabbing at her opponent's throat while she was thus winded. Her eyes blazed with early triumph - too early. Adrenaline ripped through M'saka's body, lending her strength, and she threw Elrena from her.

M'saka's ominous form blurred and doubled as Elrena raised her head woozily from the ground. The two Khajiit grinned cruelly at their victim.

"Veresi will be _so _disappointed when she finds out that I was the one who found you; that I was the one who _killed _you." She shrugged, lips curling back in anticipation. "Let us see _you_ beg now." the M'sakas hissed. Elrena wriggled to get away, but M'saka held her in place easily with a single paw. Her eyes glinted and in a single sudden movement she grabbed and twisted Elrena's arm, snapping the bone easily.

The pain snapped through Elrena's head, and the two forms of M'saka merged back into one, the world swimming into focus. As her vision sharpened, a movement behind the Khajiit caught Elrena's eye.

All at once, Inenna was upon them, grabbing M'saka and tearing her away from Elrena. M'saka struggled, writhing to get a grip on her neck, but Inenna's rage-fueled bloodlust lent her six-foot frame even more strength. With all her strength, she sent M'saka sprawling across the ground.

The Khajiit rolled like a rag doll and Elrena realised that she was heading straight towards the flames. M'saka seemed to realise this at the same moment and desperately clawed at the ground to stop the momentum from carrying her any further.

She lay panting on the groun, then sprang once more to her feet. She stared at Inenna, then decided that the two of them were more than she could deal with alone.

Elrena sensed her intentions as M'saka made up her mind.

"If she escapes she will tell the rest of them where we are!" she gasped to Inenna. But M'saka had already turned tail and fled towards the trees.

Swift and sure-footed, Inenna leapt off in pursuit.

M'saka glanced over her shoulder, heart thumping as she saw who was pursuing her. The distance between them was closing rapidly as Inenna's long legs carried her through the forest with ease. As the gap narrowed to ten metres, the Khajiit stopped suddenly. The momentum in Inenna's legs was too much and she barrelled into M'saka, sending both of them flying onto the ground. Dazed and surprised by the impact, Inenna lay on the ground as M'saka leapt to her feet and continued her flight.

Inenna forced herself to stand, but it was too late. The Khajiit had disappeared.


End file.
